It was a slow start but by the end of the day, Saturday, Aug. 15 more than one family went home with a replacement child safety seat because theirs was out-of-date or unsafe, according to safety standards.

The Oakdale Police Department, in conjunction with other Stanislaus County law enforcement agencies, worked together to conduct free child safety seat check events at St. Mary’s Church at 1225 Olive St. in Oakdale. 

The car seat checks gave parents and caregivers the opportunity to learn how to install and use child safety seats correctly. Properly securing a child in a child safety seat reduces the risk of that child suffering serious injury or even death if involved in a traffic collision.

The car seat checkup event was conducted as part of the Modesto Police Department’s “Buckle up Stanislaus” grant project, a $139,761 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The “Buckle up Stanislaus” program is education-based and designed to decrease child passenger injury and death by increasing the proper use of child safety seats throughout Stanislaus County.