AUBURN – The Child Health Center, in conjunction with the Maine Coalition for SAFE KIDS and the Androscoggin County United Way, will offer parents and those who routinely transport children, the opportunity to have a certified child passenger safety technician evaluate the safety of their young passengers on Monday, June 14.

Technicians will be available from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Auburn Police Department to inspect seats and answers questions about child passenger safety.

At the May fitting station Suzanne Cook, statewide coordinator for the Maine Coalition for SAFE KIDS, and Kimberly Sprague, Advocates for Children, inspected 15 child passenger safety systems and found that all had at least one misuse in installation or use.

Cook said, “In Maine 90 percent of children’s car seats are not used properly. Although proper restraint reduces the need for hospitalization in children birth to 4 years by 69 percent and decreases the risk of death by 71 percent in infants and 54 percent in ages 1 to 4, it only takes one mistake to reduce the car seat’s safety effectiveness and render a child unsafe in a vehicle.”

The Child Health Center, the United Way of Androscoggin County and Maine SAFE KIDS urge parents and guardians to take advantage of the free fitting station before heavy summer travel begins.

Anyone having questions child passenger safety should call the Child Health Center at 782-5437 or the Maine Coalition for SAFE KIDS at 1-800-649-1304. Fitting stations are available from 2 to 6 p.m. on the second Monday of the month at the Auburn Police Station.