Car Seat Safety Seminar (With Santa) Thursday in Woodbridge

WOODBRIDGE, VA — Installing a car seat for a young child can be akin to fumbling around with an aluminum extension ladder to make sure the lock device is properly engaged on the required rung.

In other words, if you don't do it right, bad things could happen, and that's the message Prince William County Fire and Rescue will be trying to instill Thursday in the parking lot of Hobby Lobby at 1400 Shoppers Best Way from 2-5 p.m.

It's a free car-seat seminar of sorts, and experts will be on hand to talk about seat selection, instillation tips, location, harnessing and inspections of already installed seats.

Among the inspectors will be Santa himself, who will talk to both parents and kids about the importance of maintaining car-seat safety.

"People, unfortunately, think it's an easy thing," Fire and Rescue official Bob Wall said in a release. "You put it in the car, put the kid in it, but . . . most people don't read the directions completely.

"They're really a little bit more complicated than they seem to be."

Photo: Prince William County Fire and Rescue