Click here for a link to the Department of Public Safety’s most frequently asked questions regarding car seats: http://www.dps.state.mn.us/ots/CPS_Program/2009_BoosterLaw_mats/Booster_FAQ.doc

Eden Prairie Police installed free booster seats as part of Child Passenger Safety Week last Friday at the PROP Shop in Eden Prairie.

The seats were provided through a grant from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Crime Prevention Specialist Mark Krueger said he applied for the grant, which allowed the department to install 12 booster seats at the event.

A new booster seat law is in effect in Minnesota, requiring children “under age 8 and shorter than 4 feet 9 inches to be fastened in a child safety seat or booster. Under this law, a child cannot use a seat belt alone until they are age 8 or 4 feet 9 inches tall – whichever comes first. It is recommended to keep a child in a booster based on their height, rather than their age,” according to the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety.

The Office of Traffic Safety said the most common child passenger safety mistakes are: “turning a child from a rear-facing restraint to a forward-facing restraint too soon,” not securing the restraint tight enough, not fastening the harness on the child tight enough, putting the retainer clip too high or too low (it should be at armpit level) or using the wrong restraint for the child (rushing a child into a seat belt).

Krueger said that more than 80 percent of car seats are installed or used incorrectly. The Police Department offers appointments to residents to make sure that their car seats are installed correctly. For more information, visit www.edenprairie.org or call 952-949-6200. Information is also expected to be available at the Police and Fire Open House. More information is also available at www.buckleupkids.state.mn.us and www.carseatsmadesimple.org.

– Compiled by Karla Wennerstrom