Taking care of precious cargo

Daisy Lehmann smiled winningly as East Fork firefighter Zac Pedersen adjusted the straps of her infant car seat.

At 3 months old, Daisy is one-third of the precious cargo her mother Janelle transports every day.

Lehmann was one of the first customers at last week's child car seat safety checkpoint at Station 12 in Sunridge.

"We were driving by and saw the fire trucks and thought it would be an opportunity to tour the station," she said.

With Daisy in tow, along with sister Coco, 18 months, and 3-year-old brother Jett, Lehmann took advantage of the checkpoint to make sure the children were properly restrained in their car seats.

"We're so grateful they checked the car seats," she said. "It made me more aware."

The car seats were in good condition, but technicians like Pedersen made sure they were properly installed and straps adjusted to fit the children.

During the half-hour checkpoint, Jett returned from a tour of the fire station with a plastic firefighter's helmet.

"Thanks so much, guys," she said.

Douglas County Sheriff's Capt. Mike Biaggini has administered the safety seat program with a federal Office of Traffic Safety grant since 2000.

At the checkpoint Sept. 16, Biaggini said 12 adults were educated about car seat safety and 20 seats were inspected.

Of those, only one seat was properly installed. Biaggini said six seats were removed from service, five seats were supplied for parents without seats, six seats were replaced and nine seats were given away.

On Monday, 80 old car seats were crushed at Douglas County transfer station to make sure they don't end up back in circulation.

"That's quite a few," Biaggini said. "Last year, we had 30 and this year added 50 more."

In addition to checkpoints, parents and caretakers can go to car seat fitting stations at the sheriff's office in Minden, Station 14 on County Road, Station 7 on Muir Drive in the Gardnerville Ranchos and the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District station at Elk Point.

"Fitting stations are available most any day of the week," Biaggini said.

He advised parents to make appointments.

"We'll make every effort to accommodate them," he said. "But bear in mind a technician may be called away if there's an emergency."

Biaggini said 15 technicians had completed the 40-hour course to learn to properly install car seats.

The next community checkpoint is 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 3 across from Lampe Park at the Cooperative Extension office, 1329 Waterloo Lane.

Biaggini emphasized that there is no enforcement of seat belt and child safety seat laws at the checkpoints or fitting stations. The concept is to send children home safely.

"It's a good feeling to know when you walk into an accident situation and a child is uninjured because they've been protected by a safety seat - whether we put it in or their parents did - that it was sufficient to do the job. That's one less little guy who's been hurt because of steps taken by their parents to make sure they have the child safely in the seat," Biaggini said.

"On the other hand, it's a tragedy to have a child killed or injured because parents didn't have the child protected in a proper safety car seat," he said.

"With all the information out there and the push by many organizations to protect your child and have a car seat available and installed, it's a shame."

FITTING STATIONS

Parents and caregivers may schedule appointments to have their child safety seats inspected and properly installed or replaced by trained technicians with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District, or East Fork Fire & Paramedic Districts.

Appointments can be made at:

• Douglas County Sheriff's Office, 1625 Eighth St., Minden, 782-9944;

• Tahoe-Douglas Fire Protection District, 588-3591;

• Paramedic Station 14, 1699 County Road, Minden, and Station 7, 940 Mitch Drive, Gardnerville Ranchos, 782-9040 for either location.

DETAILS

Child car safety seat checkpoint, Cooperative Extension office, 1329 Waterloo Lane, Gardnerville, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 3.