DeKalb County received a grant from the Georgia Department of Public Health to provide families with car seats and education on how to use them, officials said.
The mini-grant is funded by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, which has provided car seats to more than 100 other counties, according to a statement from the DeKalb County Board of Health.
The Board of Health did not say how many car seats will be provided to financially eligible families.
Board of Health officials hope to distribute about 360 car seats every year, with a focus on non-English-speaking residents, spokesman Eric Nickens said.
Rosalind Hill, the health promotion and prevention coordinator for the Board of Health, said the mini-grant is “a great opportunity that will help us protect our children from serious injuries and death in motor vehicle crashes.”
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Officials say car seats reduce fatal injuries by 71 percent among infants and 54 percent among children ages 1 to 4.
Nearly three out of four car seats are not installed properly, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The state grant is accompanied by education on how to properly install and use car seats.
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