A recent child safety seat inspection gave Nat Willauer an opportunity to get his grandson’s seat checked while eating at Burger King.”I figure I’d have them check what I’ve done,” said Willauer. “I just want to keep the kids safe.” Marion’s AAA Ohio Auto Club sponsored the child safety seat inspection and a vehicle inspection Thursday at Marion Plaza on Mount Vernon Avenue. Office manager Alicia Turner said it’s a public service while AAA mechanics said it also gives them a chance to look vehicles over and urge drivers to prepare their vehicles for winter. “It’s a convenience world,” said Vernon Hylton, field operations//member relations for Worthington’s AAA Auto Club, talking about how for example the majority of gas stations are now self-serve and have no one checking fluid levels and tire pressure. He estimated in about 50 percent of calls made by stranded motorists the break-down could have been prevented.Stephanie Langley, a Safe Kids-Central Ohio child safety seat inspector, also talked prevention as she checked not only how seats were installed but whether they were on any recall list. She said Safe Kids urges people to not use car seats for more than five years.”Car seats do get tired,” she said. “They get used and abused.”According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 400 children under 5 years old were saved by the use of child safety seats in 2005. An AAA press release stated that car seats have been shown to reduce infant fatalities by 71 percentLangley said there are common mistakes in installation such as seat belt harnesses not connected properly or not tightened enough. The retainer clip on the harness should be near children’s armpits but are often placed too low, such as near their stomachs, she said.She said she urges people to make sure their seats are safe and said many people use second-hand seats, which she advises against.”Car seats are so inexpensive anymore,” she said. “You don’t have to spend $140. You can spend $35-$60. It’s cheaper than the ticket you will get for a first offense.”According to state law, all children who are either under 4 years old or under 40 pounds must be in a properly used car seat that meets federal standards. A first offense can carry a $150 fine. A second offensecan mean $250 plus jail time.Exemptions are public safety vehicles, taxi cabs and vehicles not required by law to have seat belts at the time they were manufactured.Since April 6, all children 4-15 years old must be in an occupant restraining device such as a booster seat, car seat or seat belt no matter where they are seated. While it is a secondary offense, which means that an officer cannot pull someone over just for that violation, it carries the same penalty as the car seat violation.She said someone should never carry a child in their lap while driving or sitting in the front seat.”That child will probably save their lives,” she said, “but that child will probably die.”Hylton, AAA approved auto repair manager Douglas Dix and other mechanics inspected tires, batteries, fluids and other items on vehicles that stopped for the service. Buckeye Collision Service employee Keith Price helped check batteries and had new batteries available to sell and install through the AAA’s “go don’t tow” efforts to help stranded motorists at the scene rather than tow them to a service garage.Hylton and Price said common problems include low fluids, poor batteries and tires, including spare times, that do not have enough air. News source: Central Ohio