NORWICH – The Chenango County Sheriff's Office is slated to receive more than $15,000 in New York State aid to enhance local traffic safety.

The grants come by way of the governor's Traffic Safety Committee, a group that was established by executive order to include agencies with programs that are highway safety related.

Included in the funds given to the Sheriff's Office is a $6,440 grant to help manage traffic safety programs.

Another $9,000 grant was awarded for the Child Safety Seat Program which checks child seat installation for drivers and provides car seats at no cost to county residents in need.

“I think we're the only agency left in the county that administers the grant for child seats,” said Chenango County Sheriff Ernest Cutting. “It’s something we’ve been able to do for years.”

State law requires that children up to the age of four be properly restrained in an appropriate safety seat and properly secured in an appropriate child restraint system up to the age of seven.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 723 children ages 12 years and younger died in 2016, and more than 128,000 were injured as occupants in car accidents.

But many of these deaths can be prevented.

In 2017, of the children who died in a crash, 49 percent of children ages 8-12, 3 percent of children ages 4-7, and 22 percent of children less than age four were not buckled.

During child safety seat checks conducted throughout New York State last year, more than 90 percent of child restraints were being misused in some manner.