Halfords to offer free safety checks on ANY child car seat during Child Safety Week

Free checks available in all stores from Monday 23 to Sunday 29 June

AS part of national Child Safety Week (Monday, 23 – Sunday, 29 June), Halfords is urging every parent in the UK to check their child’s car seat is correctly fitted.

To give mums, dads and grandparents reassurance that they not only have the right car seat but that it is fitted to deliver maximum protection, Halfords is offering to check them – regardless of the seat make, model or where it was purchased – for free at any store during Child Safety Week.

Eloise Hawkins, Halfords child seat product manager, said: “We know that child safety is the number one priority for customers purchasing a car seat. However, whilst we ensure every seat that we sell is fitted properly when it’s first purchased they are often removed for use in a second car or loaned to grandparents, which can mean they aren’t correctly fitted again when re-installed.

“Safety groups estimate that as many as 51% of child car seats in use are incorrectly fitted – so we are using Child Safety Week to help raise awareness of the danger and offering free car seat checks at all of our stores to give customers peace of mind.”

Halfords is currently the only child car seat retailer accredited by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, and has also made a commitment to improving child seat safety by signing the Which? Child Seat Best Practice Charter.

The right car seat can make journeys safer and more comfortable for babies and children, and every Halfords store has highly trained in-store fitters with both the expertise and equipment to help customers choose the right car seat for their child and demonstrate how to fit them.

When choosing a car seat for your child, follow Halfords top tips;

• Double check that the seat you want is appropriate for both the size and weight of your child, and your car. Did you know, for example, forward facing car seats can only be used for children over 9kg that can sit unaided and support their own head?

• Think about how you will be using the seat, if you will be taking it in and out of the car is it convenient to secure?

• When fitting the car seat, make sure it is stable with no excessive forwards or sideways movement

• Remove all loose items from where the seat will be fitted – and never fit to a seat with an airbag

• Look out for side impact protection for extra safety just in case

• To cater for a growing child, look out for adjustable headrest and harness so the seat can grow with them

  Halfords has stores within a 20 minute drive for 90% of the UK population, so to find your nearest Halfords store visit www.halfords.com

-ENDS-

For further information please contact Halfords@z-pr.com or 020 7896 3404

The Halfords Group is the UK's leading retailer of automotive, leisure and cycling products and through Halfords Autocentres also one of the UK's leading independent car servicing and repair operator.

Halfords customers shop at 467 stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland and at halfords.com for pick-up at their local store or direct home delivery. Halfords Autocentres operates from around 290 sites nationally and offers motorists dealership-quality MOTs, repairs and car servicing at affordable prices. Halfords employs approximately 12,000 colleagues and sells around 10,000 product lines in stores, increasing to around 30,000 lines online. The product offering encompasses significant ranges in car parts, cycles, in-car technology, child seats, roof boxes, outdoor leisure and camping equipment.

Halfords own brands include Apollo and Carrera cycles, augmented by exclusive UK distribution rights for the premium-ranged Boardman cycles and accessories and the retro-inspired Pendleton designs from Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton which combine classic lines with modern practicality.

New ranges are launching across the Carrera, Mongoose, Boardman and Raleigh brands with exclusive lines ahead of the Tour de France this summer.

In outdoor leisure, we sell a premium range of camping equipment including brands such as Outwell. Halfords offers customers expert advice and a fitting service called "wefit" for car parts, child seats, satellite navigation and in-car entertainment systems, and a "werepair" service for cycles.

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