Stewarding safety

Elizabeth Price, a car seat technician for PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, Oregon, is helping families keep babies, toddlers and older children safe while traveling in a vehicle. Knowing that lives are riding on her efforts, Elizabeth pays keen attention to every detail. 

One day as she was inspecting a car seat, Elizabeth noticed it appeared to be a European model, but lacked the proper labeling to comply with European safety standards. Given the ease of sales on the internet, counterfeit models are on the increase. Non-Compliant car seats are a huge concern as they are often made with cheaper materials using designs that aren’t federally regulated, don’t meet federal safety standards, and may fall apart in crashes. 

Elizabeth reached out to the car seat technician community and was able to get in touch with a certified technician overseas. She confirmed that the European certification sticker on the suspicious car seat was, in fact, a fake. 

After sharing the information with the family, she provided them with a safe seat. Thanks to Elizabeth’s skill and ability to spot a fake, she has given this family greater peace of mind knowing their little one is in a safe car seat and protected from possible harm.

Beyond making things right for one family, Elizabeth is also working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). They hope that with the information and photos provided by Elizabeth, the agency can shut down the seller and prevent others from being scammed by these dangerous fake car seats. 

Elizabeth is diligent in stewarding safety, helping safeguard the well-being of families and extending a sense of security and protection for the littlest riders. Since spotting the dangerous car seat, Elizabeth and her colleague Debbie Janecek have come across a total of five fake models during car seat inspections for patients at RiverBend.

The following resources are available to help spot an unsafe or fake car seat:

• Counterfeit Carseats Are Here: Are These Flimsy Carseats Safe? – CarseatBlog
• The Car Seat Lady: Knock-off Car Seats - The Car Seat Lady

If someone believes the car seat they have been sold is a fake, it should be reported to NHTSA.

If you are interested in a car seat inspection, visit http://cert.safekids.org and click the tab labeled “Find a Tech.”