Seat Check Saturday: Get Your Car Seat Inspected for Free

It takes 40 hours of training — both in the classroom and hands-on in the field — to become a certified child passenger safety technician, yet parents are expected to master their child’s car seat with no training whatsoever. For parents who are worried they haven’t installed their child-safety seat correctly or just need someone to answer their questions, Seat Check Saturday is the answer.

Related: Cars.com’s Car Seat Checks

It’s National Child Passenger Safety Week and across the country this Saturday, child passenger safety techs will be volunteering at car seat check locations to make sure that children are in the right car seat and that it’s installed correctly. Click here to find a car seat check station close to home.

Before heading to the seat check, make sure you have your car seat’s manual as well as your car’s owner’s manual. It’s best to have your child with you too; bring some snacks along for your little one as well as activities for older kids to keep them occupied. At the check, a technician will teach you how to properly install the car seat using either the Latch system or a seat belt.

If you can’t make Saturday’s car seat checks work with your family’s schedule, use this tool to find one on a day that works, but don’t delay — your child’s safety depends on it.