What is a Child Passenger Safety Technician?
A Child Passenger Safety Technician is a person who has taken the NHTSA/Safe Kids-sponsored 3-4 day class on child passenger safety. This class teaches us all about seat belt types, crash dynamics and car seats, as well as car seat selection. A mandatory car seat checkup event is also scheduled as a part of the class. A CPS Tech must renew his/her certification every two years by obtaining continuing education units (CEUs) and participating in checkup events. Many times a CPS Tech will allow his certification to lapse, but he will continue to install seats and instruct parents. This is a dangerous practice, since an uncertified tech is not likely to be current on child passenger safety issues and it raises liability issues. Always ask if the tech helping you is current on his/her certification; a good tech will not take offense at the question at all.
