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Insurance Co. Partners With Local Hospital to Provide Free Child Seat Safety Check August 26

SEE ALSO:Complete NHTSA Child Seat Ratings

MCKINNEY, Texas, Aug. 21 -- In an effort to help educate parents about child safety, GEICO, along with Presbyterian Hospital of Plano, Safe Kids Collin County, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), the McKinney Fire Department and El Dorado Chevrolet will present a free child seat safety check on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2006 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at El Dorado Chevrolet, 2300 N. Central Expressway, McKinney.

According to Gary Brown, regional vice president of GEICO's Texas operations, location, "A big part of our job at GEICO is helping provide safety information for our customers. We want to extend the same knowledge to the community so that the Dallas-Fort Worth area becomes a safer place for all of us, especially our youngsters. We feel it is necessary to spread the message of child car seat safety because, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately 73 percent of child restraints are used incorrectly."

"It's a parent's responsibility to make sure a child's car seat is properly installed and adjusted. We're here to show you how," said Miriam Wilhelm, child passenger safety instructor at Presbyterian Hospital of Plano and Safe Kids Collin County coordinator. "Motor vehicle crashes are the leading killer of children under 14, and under Texas state law, all children under 5 years of age and 36 inches must be restrained in an appropriate car seat or booster seat."

Wilhelm added that while correctly installing the seat and securing the child in it are very important, using the right type of seat for the child's age and weight is also key. "When properly used, a car seat reduces the risk of death by 71 percent for rear-facing infants and 54 percent for forward- facing toddlers; a booster seat reduces the risk of death by 59 percent for children ages 4 to 8," she said.

Data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2004 shows that more than 80 percent of car seat seats are installed incorrectly and about 40 percent of booster seats.

Call 1-800-4-PRESBY for a free child safety seat appointment. For more information about GEICO's safety efforts, please visit http://www.geico.com/auto/safety.