The Dalton Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit responded to a crash Tuesday that sent eight people to Hamilton Medical Center. Five adults and three juveniles ranging in age from 10 months to 2 years were taken to the hospital, all with non-life threatening injuries. One driver was charged with failure to yield.

The crash occurred at the intersection of Waugh Street and Trammell Street at about 8:12 a.m. when a Mercury Mountaineer driven by Sandy White, 35, from Chatsworth turned into the path of a Ford Econoline van driven by Laura Ledford, 28, from Tunnel Hill. White was charged with failure to yield. After the van struck the SUV it continued off the road and struck a utility pole. The van was carrying three mothers and their young children, all of whom where correctly seated in child restraint systems.

Recently, the same van with the same three mothers and young children had attended a child restraint system safety check hosted by SafeKids of Dalton. Technicians from SafeKids, which includes technicians from the Dalton Police Department, educated the mothers on the correct installation and use of child restraint systems and their importance to the safety of young passengers.

One reason that none of the young children or other occupants of either vehicle was seriously injured in the crash is because all of the occupants were secured properly by safety belts they were wearing or the use of child restraint systems that they were properly restrained in.   

The Dalton Police Department reminds anyone who has a question regarding the correct installation and use of a child restraint system that they can reach an officer with the department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit at (706) 278-9085, extension 124.