The most common mistake people make when strapping their kid in a car is ignoring the height and weight restrictions of the child’s car seat, according to Regions Hospital injury prevention supervisor Shonette Micco.

“Open up that car seat manual and read the car seat manual even if it’s very hard to understand,” Micco said.

The new Minnesota child passenger safety law took effect Thursday, Aug. 1, with updated guidelines on how to keep children in vehicles safe. The changes surround age minimums and children appropriately transitioning from one car seat to another. It outlines that children must be in a car seat corresponding to the highest height and weight it will allow.

RELATED: Child car seat guidelines, gun penalties among new Minnesota laws going into effect Thursday

The law stipulates:

From birth to at least 2 years old, children must be rear-facing in an infant or convertible child safety seat.
At 2 years old and when the child has outgrown the rear-facing seat, they can be in a forward-facing seat with an internal harness.
From 4 years old and when they’ve outgrown the forward-facing seat, they can ride restrained in a belt-positioning booster seat using the lap belt and shoulder belt.
At 9 years old or if they have outgrown the booster seat and the child can pass the five-step test that demonstrates how the seat belt fits correctly, they may ride restrained with a lap and shoulder belt.
All children under 13 years old, regardless of weight or height, must sit in the back seat if the option is available.

“Car crashes remain one of the top three leading causes of admission to our trauma center in both adults and children,” Micco said.

Car seat clinics

The St. Paul Police Department is partnering with Regions Hospital, Safe Kids and State Farm to ensure that parents and caregivers have the resources they need to keep children protected from injury.

“Any crash where a child is injured is too much, and so we’re going to be doing everything we can to prevent any of them,” St. Paul Police Canine Unit Commander Jeremy Ellison said.

Regions Hospital offers free car seat clinic events where parents and caregivers can receive education from Safe Kids-certified car technicians like Micco on how to read a car manual, install the appropriate car seat and properly harness a child into the seat.

Appointments are required at 651-254-3564 or carseatinfo@healthpartners.com.

Upcoming car seat clinics are scheduled for these area fire stations:

4-7 p.m. Aug. 20 at White Bear Lake Fire
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 21 at Oakdale Fire
4-7 p.m. Oct. 15 at New Brighton Fire
4-7 p.m. Nov. 21 at Forest Lake Fire
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 7 at Bayport Fire

St. Paul Police Department’s Western District Station, 389 N. Hamline Ave., will host car seat clinics 4:30-8 p.m. Sept. 30 and Dec. 10.

Micco said every car seat is different, which is why it’s necessary to read the manual. She said it takes a trained car seat technician four days to learn how to properly install them.

“It’s like putting together this very complicated puzzle and it’s very unreasonable to expect a family to go to a store, find a car seat, come home and know how to use it correctly,” Micco said.

Violations are learning opportunities

The new Minnesota law aligns closely with car seat safety best practice, which both Regions and St. Paul police had been encouraging prior.

“It’s important because when we go to a crash and see a child that may be injured, it’s completely avoidable,” Ellison said.

Funded by grants from the Toward Zero Deaths program and other partners, Ellison and Micco have done “ridealongs” where they search the community for violations and offer free car seats to drivers. Ellison said families are grateful to receive free seats and knowledge that keeps their children safe. This year the department had 40 seats, and though they’ve distributed all of those, more are on the way.

With the new car seat law in place, violators now might receive a citation plus a pamphlet that walks them through how to properly install a car seat they already own, get a free car seat if they don’t have one and, finally, remove the citation.

“We want kids to be safe, we want parents to feel confident that their kids are in the right seat,” Ellison said.

St. Paul families interested in learning how to install a car seat can reach out to the police department via email at SPPD-CarSeatSafety@stpaul.gov or phone 651-266-5990. A trained car seat technician will teach them to install a car seat on site or in the home.

Families or caregivers who do not speak English can leave a message and the department will have someone call back to make sure they receive the help they need.

“Our department is committed to making sure that kids are safe out there and we want to make sure that we’re responsive to the community’s needs,” Ellison said.

Car seat info online

To find a car seat clinic near you, visit safekids.org/events.

For more on the new Minnesota child passenger safety law and other car seat information, visit buckleupkids.mn.gov.

Information on Minnesota traffic safety initiatives, including child passenger safety, is available at Toward Zero Deaths (minnesotatzd.org).

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