A baby aboard a vehicle is some precious cargo. Child car seats are the law and they save lives, but, believe it or not, nearly half of all safety seats are misused. Most of the time, it's because they are installed incorrectly. To make matters scarier, vehicle crashes are the leading cause of child deaths in the nation. Now is the time to make sure your baby or toddler is safely riding in a motor vehicle.

TxDOT is here to remind everyone of the importance of properly installing and using a child safety seat. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims that about 46% of all child seats are misused. Now is the time to get yours inspected with TxDOT's Save Me With a Seat campaign.

Photo: TxDOT
Photo: TxDOT
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You can schedule a free car seat safety check by visiting SaveMeWithASeat.org. Just enter your zip code for the office nearest you. TxDOT offers free car safety checks year-round.

In 2021, 78 children under the age of 8 died in traffic crashes in Texas, 22 of those children were unrestrained at the time. Among children 8 to 12 years of age, 36 died in crashes with 13 unrestrained at the time. Making sure child safety seats are properly installed and used can reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers according to NHTSA.

Photo: TxDoT
Photo: TxDoT
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To make things easy, TxDOT has two events coming up where you can bring your vehicle and make sure your child's safety seat is installed and operating properly.

The first is coming up on September 22nd from 3 PM-6 PM in Brownwood at the Ford dealership. The second is in Abilene at the Taylor County Expo Center Entertainment Pavillion on September 24th from 9 till Noon.

Once you've been checked out you'll be off and back on the road. For travel tips when it comes to babies and toddlers, keep scrolling. We've got you covered.

Top Seven Travel Tips To Baby and Toddler-Proof Your Car Trip

Here is how you make your trip much more tolerable when traveling with children under the age of five!