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KINGDOM CITY -- Firefighters held an event Saturday to promote car seat safety - by running over and crushing old ones.

"We're hoping to get some of the expired seats, outgrown seats, inappropriate to age and size seats off the road," said Sterling Mitchell, a firefighter wirh the North Callaway Fire Protection District.

The goal: "Make children safer," Sterling said.

The North Callaway Fire Protection District, along with MoDOT, held free child car safety seat inspections Saturday. The ones that didn't make the grade were run over and smashed - and parents received a new one for free.

Firefighters warned parents that car seats, particularly older ones, have a shelf life of around six years.

"Think about the wear and tear that goes on" inside your car,  said Sterling Mitchell, a firefighter with the North Callaway Fire Protection District. "The heat, the sun, the cold, different types of moisture" causes wear and tear.

People "need to realize car seats expire also," Sterling said.

For parents who missed Saturday's free car seat inspection, they can contact the North Callaway Fire Protection District for more information.

Here are some child car seat safety tips, from Sterling:

• Replace a car seat if it's been in an accident.
• Replace a car seat if the material is worn or torn.
• Replace a car seat after six years.
• Be careful about buying a car seat at a yard sales because you don't know its history.
• Save the warranty and instruction manuals.