CHAMPAIGN — When a car seat is not properly installed, children and babies can be harmed, even in low-speed collisions. It’s why the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District offers free car seat safety checks.
So far this year, they haven’t found a single car seat that didn’t need some kind of adjustment, according to Christina Ladage, an administrative assistant at C-U Public Health who is also a certified car seat technician instructor.
“I can’t understand why it’s so bad,” Ladage said, “because we give the same education that other agencies do.”
According to C-U Public Health, 94% of the car seats inspected in 2025 needed some kind of correction; so far in 2026, that number sits at 100%.
On Monday, Sept. 14, the district held a free car seat inspection event, ahead of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Child Passenger Safety Week, which runs Sept. 20-26.
The event took place in the north parking lot garage of C-U Public Health’s building in Champaign. A second car seat inspection event will be held on Monday, Sept. 21.
Aloni Lipscomb came to the inspection with a secondhand car seat, hoping to confirm whether she installed it correctly. A technician found she’d used both the vehicle’s seatbelt and its lower-anchor latch system to secure it, which is incorrect.
“I installed the car seat by putting the two latch systems, when it’s supposed to be one,” Lipscomb said.
Mistakes like Lipscomb’s are common, says Mia Harrier, a certified child passenger safety technician volunteer.
“Either the car seat is strapped in too loose, or the child is too loose in the seat,” she said. “The more a child moves during an accident, the more likely they are to be injured.”
Illinois requires children under 2 to ride rear-facing unless they exceed 40 pounds or 40 inches, part of the state’s Child Passenger Protection Act since 2019. Ladage said a free inspection can also help a parent cited for a car seat violation avoid court costs — a one-time option per person.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers advice for car seat installation on its website. The agency encourages users to closely follow car seat instruction manuals to ensure proper installation.
C-U Public Health’s second inspection event of the month runs Monday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 201 W. Kenyon Road; no appointment is necessary.
People can also make an appointment to get a car seat checked on the second Monday of most months by calling 217-353-4932.