PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Recent studies have demonstrated that child safety seat misuse is a serious problem. Parents incorrectly assume that child safety seats are easy to install and will fit in any car. However, statistics suggest that 50 to 90 percent of all child safety seats are misused. A recent survey conducted by the Automotive Safety for Children Program (ASFC) showed that 75 percent of observed child safety seats had shown some type of misuse.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The Automotive Safety for Children Program at Riley Hospital and WISH-TV Channel 8 planned to set up a series of car seat inspection clinics in the Indianapolis area to:

• Teach parents that every child safety seat will not fit in every car
• Instruct parents on the proper installation of child safety seats.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

A series of child safety seat inspection clinics were set up to coincide with the 1995 Labor Day holiday, a time when many families take to the road, and when passenger and driver safety issues are often given media attention.

Partners from around the state were brought in to help with the clinics and to increase their awareness and interest in the possibilities for their own communities. Participants included state and local police officers, Step Ahead Councils, Safe Kids Coalitions, public health agencies, hospital personnel, community centers, EMS personnel, Red Cross agencies, and the Governor's Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving.

Child Safety Seat Inspection Clinics (cont'd)

RESULTS

As a result of the inspection clinics, the ASFC produced a five-minute roll-call video for police officers detailing the most frequent and obvious types of child safety seat misuse. During routine traffic stops, officers were encouraged to do quick observational checks for safety seat misuse. Additionally, an informational brochure, which lists in checklist form types of misuse and how to spot them, was developed.

Of the 392 child safety seats inspected at the seven clinics, 354 or 90 percent had some form of incompatibility or misuse. In instances of misuse, parents were instructed in correct use, and if the seats were found to be incompatible, phone numbers of the manufacturers were provided to the parents.

Parents expressed gratitude to the inspectors and sponsors for providing the inspection opportunity. When instructed in the proper installation and use of their child restraint devices, they seemed genuinely surprised that their misuses were potentially dangerous.

Because of the tremendous interest shown by parents, most of the 17 coalition partners returned to their communities and offered car seat inspection clinics there. In addition, due to the number of phone calls generated from the publicity of the clinics, ASFC conducted a training session for inspectors during Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week, 1996. The class, Child Auto Restraint Educators Seminar (CARES) included participants from law enforcement, fire departments, hospital workers, maternal/child health clinicians, preschool and daycare teachers, and other community service agency workers. CARES provided not only car seat inspection and education information, but also tips on the logistics of car seat inspection clinics, from advertising to liability concerns.