In the seven years that Cayuga County Sheriff's Detective Brian Schenck has been doing child safety seat inspections, he has noticed that most parents did not know how to properly install the devices.

“The biggest problem that I have seen is that parents do not install the seats tight enough,” Schenck said. “In a crash, that's going to mean an increased chance of injury or death.”

State and national studies confirm what Schenck has seen on the road.

A study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2007 found that 72 percent of parents did not know how to properly install the seats, while another study, conducted by the New York State Governor's Traffic Safety Committee in 2007, found that 90 percent of safety seats checked by law enforcement were being used incorrectly.

To help county residents ensure the safety of their children, the sheriff's office sent Civil Enforcement Officer Susan Roy and Deputy John Nedza to Rochester to become certified for the Child Passenger Safety Program over the summer. The two officers will assist Schenck and may eventually take over the program for him.

The national program was created to help teach parents how to properly install safety seats, and how to pick the right seat for their child.

“We are hoping to bring the program out more frequently,” Roy said. “When we did these checks in Rochester, we often saw that the parents had no clue what they were doing, or how to pick a seat for their children. Things such as height and weight are really important when you pick a seat, and you can often find that information right on the seat's label.”

When parents used the proper seat, NHTSA found the risk of death or injury decreased by 71 percent for children under the age of 1, and decreased by 54 percent for children between the ages of 1 and 4.

But the main goal of the program was not just to install the seats for parents but to teach them how to do it themselves, Schenck said. In addition to giving free advice, a state grant allows the program to distribute seats to families who cannot afford one themselves.

“I have gotten a lot of satisfaction out of this program over the years,” he said. “The point of the program is not just to give away seats but to train the parents. We don't want them to come back. Our goal is to make them able to do it themselves if they ever buy a new seat or buy a new car and have to transfer the seat between vehicles.”

Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or nathan.robson@lee.net