Rotary assists Wheel Well to make secondhand kids’ car seats safe
On average two thirds of donated seats are still safe for use.
Rotary is the proud supporter of NPO Wheel Well, which promotes road safety for children.
Wheel Well encourages owners of car seats they no longer need, not to donate them blindly to parents in need, but to allow Wheel Well to collect, examine and repair the seats in such a way that the seats will be safe for use by the next little one who will be strapped into it.
Well’s Peggie Mars, said: “It is unfortunately so that many people, out of the kindness of their hearts, donate their used car seats to children in need, without realising that the seats may no longer be safe for use.
“It is hugely important that such unsafe seats be withdrawn from the market.
“The four most important reasons for the need to withdraw seats from the market are, if the seat has been in a crash, it has been withdrawn from the market for safety reasons, it is simply too old to install safely or it has a homemade cover.
“The cover is an integral part of the seat’s safety design and a new cover has to be tested by the seat’s manufacturer.”
Mars is available to address clubs or groups on this subject and to collect donated car seats for checking, refurbishing and donating onwards to the needy, making sure that each seat is legally safe for use by the recipient.
Rotary encourages the delivery of used car seats to any Rotary Club, Rotary Anns Club or to the Rotary Humanitarian Centre in Bedfordview, where they will be collected by Wheel Well.
Peggie may be reached on072 385 7121 or peggie@wheelwell.co.za or visit www.wheelwell.co.za.
