Child safety seats may sit in the rear of a car, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t a priority.

Cars with families lined up on a warm Tuesday morning outside Thompson Elementary as Officers with the Spring ISD Police Department checked their child safety seats for size and proper installation.

This is the second year that the district’s police department has teamed up with Texas Children’s Hospital, Safe Kids of Greater Houston, Cypress Creek EMS and the Spring ISD Transportation Department to offer free inspections and in some cases, replacement of unsafe child safety seats.

Officer Jarrod Morton was busy checking seat installation and answering parent questions.

“One of the common things that we are finding here is that the car seat may be a hand-me-down, maybe the brother or sister had it a few years ago, and the parents aren’t sure if it’s expired,” said Morton.

Nicole Peake with Texas Children’s Hospital said that another big problem was that many seats just aren’t properly installed.

“About four out of five car seats are installed incorrectly and so we are here to fix that number,” said Peake. Several certified child passenger safety technicians were on hand to help.

Making sure that her daughter’s seat was secure was on Regina Hamilton’s mind when she asked for help.

“I recently got it and wasn’t sure that I installed it correctly,” Hamilton said as Officer Morton checked on the seat.  “It’s nice knowing that you guys are out here supporting the community and making sure that our kids are safe,” she said.

Hamilton said she learned about the seat inspection at Thompson because the school had reached out to their families.

“We love what the school offers here, they are always keeping the parents informed and letting the parents know what’s going on. Mothers like me are extremely grateful,” said Hamilton.

For Nicole Peake, the reward is knowing that children are safer as they head back out on the road.

“Just seeing that parent give a sigh of relief as they leave… or realizing the things that they may have been doing wrong, but now that they can transport their child safely, and it’s one less thing to worry about,” said Peake.