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PROBLEM IDENTIFICATIONMotor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Hispanics through age 24, and the second leading cause of death for ages 25 – 44. While Hispanics represent approximately 12 percent of the entire US population, they are the fastest growing minority population and are disproportionately represented in the number of persons injured or killed in motor vehicle crashes each year. Consider the fact that Hispanic male teenagers travel fewer vehicle miles than their Caucasian counterparts, but are twice as likely to die in a motor vehicle collision. In 1995, a traffic safety needs assessment was conducted in the Hispanic community. At that time, only 45 percent of Hispanic households surveyed reported using a child passenger safety seat or seat belt. Sadly, many of the injuries and deaths are preventable through traffic safety education and the correct use of seat belts and child passenger safety seats. GOALS AND OBJECTIVESThe goals of this multicultural outreach project are to:
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIESLetters of introduction requesting a meeting, along with packets of information and sample materials were sent to eight public and non-profit grassroots organizations. Follow-up phone calls were placed two weeks after mailing the letters. NHTSA staff met with four of the eight agencies contacted (listed below), to introduce the NHTSA mission and highlight Hispanic motor vehicle related fatality and injury statistics. Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) is a publicly funded multi-service anti-poverty agency, with one division focusing on the needs of Boston’s Hispanic population. NHTSA staff introduced the division director to the NHTSA catalog and web site, and provided materials about child passenger safety seats for its several Head Start programs and the NOYS (National Organizations for Youth Safety) campaign. NHTSA staff offered to conduct pedestrian and bicycle safety workshops for ABCD’s teaching and program staff. Soldados de Salud (Soldados) is a non-profit agency serving a diverse racial and ethnic population, concentrating on its surrounding neighborhoods in two sections of Boston. NHTSA staff and the director of Soldados met to discuss ways to incorporate NHTSA materials and traffic safety messages into several upcoming events sponsored by the agency. The agency made requests for materials in Portuguese and Vietnamese, as well as Spanish, which was a surprise to the NHTSA staff. Soldados also requested additional materials to distribute at their Halloween and Thanksgiving parties. Concilio Hispano, a multi-service organization based in Cambridge for 35 years, recently expanded into two neighboring cities to serve the growing Hispanic population. This organization currently teaches a Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) class for Spanish speaking individuals who have had their driver’s license revoked. Its director targeted the need for Spanish language materials regarding impaired driving for use in the existing DWI class. The Boston Public Schools serve a diverse population and are experiencing a rapid growth of its Hispanic student population. The director of the Health Education Division met with NHTSA staff to discuss ways that traffic safety messages and NHTSA materials can be incorporated into current and future curricula. Topics of concern included novice drivers, impaired driving, pedestrian and bicycle safety, and in-service training for Health educators. |
RESULTSAs a direct result of these face-to-face meetings, each agency now understands that traffic safety is a worthy topic. Agencies now know how and where to access educational materials and programs to begin to address these concerns. Seeds of partnerships were sewn but need to be cultivated regularly. It is clear that grassroots organizations need a fair amount of TLC. With limited budgets and staff, traffic safety has not been a high priority. However, these organizations often have credibility in their communities and certainly have the direct contact with the populations in need of this information.
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FALL 2001 |