Mothercare has teamed up with Temple Street to launch a nationwide car safety month this April. 

The “Check it Fits” roadshow will travel to Tralee, Cork, Portlaoise, Limerick, Drogheda and across Dublin. Fully trained car seat experts will check car seats and booster seats are fitted correctly free of charge across all stores, as well as offer advice and demonstrations on how to correctly fit individual car seats. 

Mothercare and Temple Street are particularly concerned about the impact car crashes have on children. The alarming reality is that across the EU, road traffic accidents account for one third of child injury deaths each year and they are the leading cause of death and serious life restricting injuries in children under 14.

Both Temple Street and Mothercare want to stress that correctly fitted child restraints save lives. They also want to raise awareness about Irish law which says quite clearly that all children must use a car seat until they reach 150cm in height or the age of 12. 

The chance of being killed or being very badly hurt is about seven times greater for children who are not properly restrained while a passenger in a car.

The ‘drive to save lives’ with Temple Street and Mothercare was officially launched by Miriam O’Callaghan last August ahead of the most dangerous Bank Holiday in Ireland. Both want to raise awareness and much needed funds to maintain the high standards of care in the children’s hospital.

Stunning mum-to-be Pippa O'Connor stepped out to promote the campaign

“Having the support of Mothercare’s employees and loyal customers will make a huge difference to the work we do,” said Denise Fitzgerald, CEO Fundraising Office, Temple Street Children’s University Hospital. 

“The law is in place to protect precious cargo whether they are newborns or primary school students,” said Laura Ward, Mothercare Marketing Director. “The fully trained car seat experts at Mothercare offer free advice on what is the best option for your child, your needs and your car. We also offer a two year guarantee on all seats sold in Mothercare Ireland and can fit your car seat or booster seat for you, as well as check that your existing child restraint is fitted correctly.  We have also reduced the prices up to 50% off a large selection of car and booster seats for the month of April to make things a little easier.”

Speaking about the campaign Professor Alf Nicholson, Consultant Paediatrician, Temple Street Children’s University Hospital said: “Following our study Preventing Unintentional Injury in Children and Adolescents we found that effective interventions to reduce childhood deaths and injuries on the road include the use of age-appropriate safety restraints in cars. Put simply: car seats save lives.  In our study over half (52%) of the unintentional injury deaths were road related and showed low rates of documented car restraints.  We want to turn this around completely.”