Parents, families ensure kids’ car seats are installed right at Henrico pop-up event

Aug 30, 2025 - 18:25

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Parents, families ensure kids’ car seats are installed right at Henrico pop-up event

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Parents, families and guardians gathered at a local Henrico County Walmart on Saturday to make sure their children's car seat was installed properly.

The Henrico County Police Division held a child safety seat check-up pop-up event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, at Walmart, located at 7901 Brook Road, giving Richmond metro-area residents the chance to ensure their children's car or booster seat was installed correctly.

Other law enforcement in other localities showed their support on Saturday morning, including the New Kent County Sheriff's Office, the Prince George County Police and the Hanover County Sheriff's Office

"[It's important to] make sure everything is safe, that they're using their car seat[s] properly. About half of all vehicles don't have the car seat installed properly or being used properly when they leave the hospital with their newborns," said Brittany Pike with the Henrico County Police Division. "So we're trying to make sure that everyone leaves safely and gets to where they need to go."

The Henrico County Police Division held a child safety seat check-up event on Saturday, August 30. (Photo: William Berksteiner, 8News)

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), while most parents and caregivers are confident that they have correctly installed their child’s car seat, 46% have been installed incorrectly.

A properly used or installed car seat can reduce the risk of death for a child by 71%, officials said.

"There is a direct correlation to making sure that you're properly restrained, whether you're a [child being] restrained or in a seatbelt that is properly being used," said New Kent County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Lee Bailey.

Pike said Henrico Police hold multiple events in different parts of the county. She said their goal is to "make sure everyone's safe," and further emphasized that they hope to "make sure their seats leave in better condition than they came in," Pike said.

"If we don't know better, we can't do better and that's the problem we see -- that a lot of people don't know they aren't using their car seat correctly or that it's not installed properly. It's more important to get that education piece so that they can pass that information along as well."