TYLER (KYTX) - DPS in Wyoming is investigating after a 2-year-old Tyler boy is killed in a car accident. Troopers say Matthew Saine's car seat may have been strapped incorrectly.
They don't know if that was the case, but it's a perfect opportunity to remind parents the importance of car seat safety.
We know kids can get fussy when being put in their car seats, so it's easy for parents to skip steps when strapping their kids into car seats.
Every single strap needs to be clipped, bottom and top. The seat also needs to be tightly strapped to the car. If all of these things aren't done correctly, your child is in danger.
Just two years ago, Kristen Courtney was in a rollover accident.
"I was pregnant with the girls, they are 17 months old now. My son was in the car with me and we rolled over 360 degrees, and we survived with just bruises," she says.
She says the reason her 5-year-old son Calvie is alive, is because of his car seat.
Calvie shows how he puts the belt on: "I just make sure the seatbelt goes in the hole and you have to hear the click sound!"
Courtney made sure to teach him the right way to sit in his seat.
"If it doesn't touch the shirt," Calvie says, "that means that you're unsafe!"
The same thing goes with car seats for smaller children.
"The strap that goes across should go across where their armpits are," Courtney says. "It shouldn't be any higher and it shouldn't be any lower."
A common problem is that parents have their children correctly strapped into the car seat but the car seat is not correctly strapped into the vehicle, and that's just as important when making sure your child is safe in the car.
State Farm agent and certified car seat instructor Linda Rowe says reading directions is key.
"Every safety seat is different every vehicle is different, so there is no way to know except look at the manuals, read the instructions and follow them," Rowe says.
Doing so, could save your child's life.
Rowe is certified to help parents with their car seats. If you want help from Linda, you can stop by the office at 6616 S. Broadway in Tyler, or call (903) 581-2820.
The DPS office in Tyler can also help parents. You can reach that office at (903) 939-6014.
