AAA Texas and Babies 'R' Us Join for Child Passenger Safety Week

HOUSTON--Feb. 1, 20060, 2006--To help keep Texas children safe while they ride in vehicles, AAA Texas and Babies "R" Us today announced a partnership to provide discounts to help parents replace old, possibly unsafe child safety seats with new seats, according to AAA Texas.

"Next week is National Child Passenger Safety Week and this is the perfect time to alert Texas parents about the need to make sure their children are riding in safe car seats," said Mark Bell, regional vice president and general manager of AAA Texas. "Too often, children are placed in hand-me-down safety seats or seats that were purchased at a garage sale, thrift store or flea market. Those seats may only be good for the trash dumpster."

AAA Texas and Babies "R" Us are distributing, through AAA's 25 statewide offices, nearly 3,000 discount coupons for the purchase of a new child safety seat or a booster seat. The coupon is valid for a $10 discount on the purchase of a new seat that costs at least $40 only at Babies "R" Us retail stores. They are not accepted at Toys "R" Us or for online purchases.

Texas law requires children younger than five years old and less than 36" tall to ride in a child safety seat.

AAA Texas is a leader promoting child safety through educational and legislative efforts, in addition to partnering with various public safety agencies to perform safety seat checks. Seats that are judged to be unsafe by certified safety seat technicians are removed from vehicles and replaced with new seats. Old seats should be destroyed by cutting off the straps and removing and destroying all padded materials, Bell added.

"Your child is safest in a new child safety seat," Bell said. "A new seat will have a registration form that, when completed and returned to the manufacturer, will be used to notify the owner if there is a potential recall or defect in the future. New seats also have clearly labeled expiration dates."

A seat's history cannot be known if it is purchased at a garage sale, thrift store or flea market. Safety seats that have been in a crash may not show signs of trauma and may not be safe to use. Without the registration number and the year, date and month it was manufactured, you will not be able to determine if the seat has been recalled.

AAA Texas, an affiliate of AAA National, has been serving Texans since 1902. Today, more than a million AAA Texas members benefit from the organization's roadside assistance service, travel agency, financial products, insurance products and services, automotive pricing, buying and financing, trip planning services, and traffic safety programs. Information about these products and services is available on AAA Texas' web site at www.aaa.com.