Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional death of children over age 1 in the United States, yet many of these heartbreaking tragedies could be avoided through appropriate safety restraint use. State Farm is tackling this national problem by hosting its tenth Annual Child Safety Day at more than 200 locations across the country.

A local event will be held on Saturday, May 15 at Resurrection Life Church located at 785 Memorial Drive in Picayune and hosted by State Farm agents John McAulay, Ted Musgrove, Rob Porter and PJ Williamson. Certified child passenger safety technicians from Safe Kids of Mississippi will provide free inspections of child safety seats from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 15. “By hosting Child Safety Day events, State Farm continues its commitment to child passenger safety. We want to do our part to help parents with the important yet often confusing task of keeping their children safe in the car,” said Susan Lamey, State Farm Public Affairs.

Since 2001, State Farm has hosted events at more than 2,000 sites and has inspected more than 73,000 child safety seats. These events have helped thousands of parents work with certified car seat technicians to make sure they are using their car seats correctly.

Research shows at least 70 percent of child restraint systems are used incorrectly, increasing the child’s risk of injury during a crash. Car seat technicians report that the most common mistakes include turning the car seat to a forward-facing position too soon, not strapping the child securely enough into the car seat, not securing the car seat tightly enough to the vehicle, and moving the child to an adult seat belt too soon. For more information about child passenger safety, visit State Farm Child Safety Day or go to www.statefarm.com or www.nhtsa.dot.gov.