Hinesburg, VT– Is your child’s car seat installed safely? That’s what the Chittenden County Sheriff’s Office is hoping to find out. It’s offering free car seat checks from now throughout the summer.

Saturday was one of the first events of the year to raise awareness of the dangers children face when riding in a car. Some of the features officials check for is if the car seat is buckled in correctly, making sure there’s no defects, as well as teaching parents how to install a car seat themselves.

“The goal is to make sure that children go out safer than they come in,” says Lt. Allen Fortin of the Chittenden County Sheriff’s Office. “Statistics tell us that in Vermont, 50% of our seats are not installed correctly, so we just want to make sure that every child out there is riding safely,” he adds.

The Sheriff’s Office is holding about 30 more events all over Vermont.