The Oak Park Fire Department is offering free child safety seat inspections at Station 1, giving parents and caregivers a chance to confirm their seats are correctly installed before the next car ride.

The program, overseen by Fire Chief JT Terry's department, uses certified child passenger safety technicians to check that a seat fits both the child and the vehicle, according to the Village of Oak Park's official announcement posted Aug. 13. The department's guidance: the best seat is one that correctly fits the child, fits the vehicle and gets used every time.

The service is free.

It's also appointment-only. Residents can email [email protected] to schedule a time at Fire Station 1, 100 N. Euclid Ave. The department asks that residents not show up unannounced because the technicians are on-call firefighter/paramedics who may be responding to emergencies.

Parents should bring three things: the child safety seat, the vehicle owner's manual and the car seat manufacturer's manual.

The safety case

Nearly half of all car seats are installed incorrectly, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, even though most parents believe they've done it right. Correctly installed seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers.

A national observational study cited by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that 46% of children were riding in seats being misused in ways likely to reduce crash protection. Forward-facing restraints had the highest misuse rate at 61%, with loose attachment to the vehicle and loose harness straps the most common errors. That study, conducted by NHTSA in 2011, remains the most recent large-scale national data on the problem.

In 2023, an estimated 125,803 children age 14 and younger were injured in passenger vehicle crashes nationwide, and 700 were killed.

Illinois law

The state's Child Passenger Protection Act requires all children under age 8 to be secured in an appropriate child restraint system on every trip. Children under 2 must ride rear-facing unless they weigh 40 or more pounds or measure 40 or more inches tall.

How to schedule

The Oak Park Fire Department's program has no announced end date. To book an inspection, email [email protected]. Additional child passenger safety information is available on the Illinois Secretary of State's website. The fire department can also be reached at 708-358-5600.