A new Child Passenger Safety Resource Center is being sponsored by Eastern and the Illinois Department of Transportation to help keep children safe on the road.

The Child Passenger Safety Resource Center, located at 655 W. Lincoln Ave. Suite 11, began January 1 through grants with Eastern and the Illinois Department of Transportation, said Carrie Welsh, a child safety seat technician.

Any parent can go to the resource center free of charge to have their child’s seat checked and to make sure it is not on the list of seats that have been recalled in past years, Welsh said.

Appointments are preferred to have seats checked, but the technicians will accept walk-ins if they are not too busy.

“We have had a really good response,” Welsh said.

The technicians, who go through a four-day training period, have a checklist of problems with car seats to go over with parents.

The biggest problem that the technicians see is that car seats are not fastened tight enough, Welsh said. A car seat should not be able to move more than one inch to either side.

Technicians ask anyone using a car seat that is more than seven years old to buy a new one because of the regular wear and tear. Extremes in cold and warm temperatures can warp the plastic on the seats, Welsh said.

The child safety seat resource center also has a room of car seats where parents can see what type of car seat they might want to buy or if a certain type will fit in their car, Welsh said.

The technicians would also like to raise awareness in the injuries that occur when children are not properly restrained.

“A lot of people do not understand that their child needs to be restrained,” Welsh said.

To make an appointment to have a car seat checked call 581-8391.