To the Editor:

Thank you, Altamont Enterprise, for printing the picture of Bill VanAlstyne and related information regarding child safety seats on page 25 “Safety First” in the Oct. 2, 2014 edition.

The information under the picture states that Mr. VanAlstyne and his technicians recently inspected child car safety seats at the Crossgates Mall and, of the 124 seats inspected, only four were found to be properly installed. Not a very good ratio.

I would like to share some information with your readers, especially grandparents and great-grandparents who, like us, may find themselves traveling with an infant or small child and using a child car safety seat.

Being retired, we often babysit a great-grandchild and, on occasion, take them on a shopping trip. I'm not sure how we acquired the child car seat we were using. It looked OK; it appeared to be serviceable; and it was clean and shiny. My wife thought we should have it inspected.

Several weeks ago, on the way home from a shopping trip with great-grandson Levi, we stopped at the Public Safety Building in Voorheesville on Route 85A and met Bill VanAlstyne. We asked him to inspect our child car safety seat. What we learned in the 45 minutes with him was a real eye opener.

As appearances can indeed be deceiving, we learned that our clean and shiny child car safety seat was four years beyond its expiration date, had been recalled by the manufacturer, and was defective!

Mr. VanAlstyne removed our child car safety seat and put it in the trash. He then brought out a new child car safety seat. He demonstrated the proper installation of the new seat and explained the various safety features built into it. He related startling statistics regarding nationwide child injuries from automobile accidents.

Frankly speaking, it was the most informative 45 minutes I've ever spent in my life.

As I reached for my checkbook, Mr. VanAlstyne said that there was no charge for the new seat as his services and those of his technicians were funded by the federal government in a program designed to reduce child injuries by educating people and removing old, defective seats like ours from use.

If you are traveling with an infant or small child and have doubts about the child car safety seat you are using, take the time and stop and see Bill VanAlstyne. You'll be glad you did. I know we are.

Robert and Ida Motschmann

Berne