La Quinta hosts 14th Annual Fall Family Festival
Families flocked to the 14th Annual Fall Family Festival in La Quinta on Sunday to enjoy music, food and entertainment.
More than 50 local businesses and organizations lined the Sliver Rock event site with more than 1,000 people expected to attend.
The festival had games, crafts, safety and community resources for Coachella Valley families.
Kids enjoyed a petting zoo and pony ride, along with delicious food vendors.
The California Highway Patrol held child safety demonstrations, such as car seat safety checks.
"In child safety seats, we sometimes see misused rates of over 90% and traffic collisions are the leading cause of death and injury to children," said Lieutenant Commander Daniel Hesser, "So, we want to do everything we can to make sure parents have that information and they can use their seats safely."
Some safety tips to keep in mind:
- Make sure the car seat is secured with a latch or seatbelt
- Make sure the harness goes over your child's shoulders
- Ensure the clip remains at chest level
Hesser added, "a lot of times with the harnesses they're just not tight enough they'll put children in where the harness is loose and the child could slide around there's a lot of crashed forces that come into play in a collision."
Helmet safety was also another topic at the this year's festival.
One of the founders of the 4ShayJ Foundation, Shaun Clark, said his son passed away 6 years ago after being struck by a car while skateboarding without a helmet.
“Now it wasn't the car hitting him to cause him to lose his life, it was his head, hitting the road without a helmet on,” said Clark.
He said kids may not think wearing a helmet is the "cool thing to do," but he hopes to change that mentality.
"We're really trying to get the kids to police themselves, hold each other accountable," Clark added, "So when they're out riding their bicycle and their friend doesn't have a helmet, they stop them and they make sure that they're wearing a helmet."
