The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office installs child car seats for free, but citizens must make an appointment. To schedule an appointment, email safecarseats@stmarysmd.com and include your name, address, telephone number, email address, and type and number of car seats.
Maryland’s Child Passenger Safety Law:
• Every child under 8 years old must ride in a booster seat or other appropriate child safety seat* unless the child is 4 feet, 9 inches or taller.
• Every child from 8 to 16 years old who is not secured in a car seat must be secured in the vehicle’s seat belt.
The back seat is the safest. Children under 13 years old should ride in the back seat.
*A child safety seat includes infant seats, convertible seats, forward-facing seats, booster seats, or other federally approved safety devices.
Deputies who are Certified Child Passenger Safety Seat Technicians conduct these inspections. The inspection will take approximately 20 minutes and it will help avoid a needless tragedy.