Pocono News Section

Used Car Seats Destroyed in Williamsport

Used Car Seats Destroyed in Williamsport - Friday, October 2, 2009 at 5:36PM EST

Reported by: Jeremy Deebel
Friday, Oct 2, 2009 @ 05:36pm EDT
Williamsport, Lycoming County-

Dozens of child safety seats were taken out of service Friday in Lycoming County. They were traded in for a bite to eat at the “Home of the Whopper.”

Used car seats sat stacked up outside Burger King on Maynard Street in Williamsport. One by one, volunteers keep piling them on.

Barbara Michael, of Williamsport, brought in the seat her grandchild uses. Michael said, "I was a little bit worried about my car seat in general. I wasn't sure of it and i know i had it over six years, so that's why I brought it in."

PennDOT officials say car seats should be taken out of circulation when:

-they are more than six years old,
-they've been damaged in a car crash,
-they've been recalled by the manufacturer, or
-they have missing, broken, or rusted parts.

PennDOT Safety Press Officer Michael Hess explained, "Basically we're trying to get car seats off the yard sale market, if you will, so people don't buy them and use them again."

So, local safety advocacy groups teamed up with Burger King to offer $5 gift cards to everyone who dropped off an old or damaged seat.

Michael said, "You don't know what to do with car seats after you're not using them anymore. So I think it's real nice."

Safe Kids Lycoming County coordinator Sandy Nolan noted, "A lot of times people will hand them down or give them to family members. Sometimes that's ok, if they know it has not been in a crash, prior ownership knows everything that happened to a car seat."

But if you're not 100% sure, it’s better to be safe than sorry. That's why the seats were crushed following the roundup at Burger King- to ensure that no child will ever be harmed by one of these faulty safety seats.

Nolan added, "(There’s) nothing more important. And as long as a kid is in a car they should be in a safe seat. We recommend kids under 13 to be in the back seat at all times."

Officials encourage parents to always fill out and return the warranty paperwork on their safety seats. That way the manufacturer can immediately notify them of any defects or recalls.