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PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
In California, motor vehicle
crashes have historically been a leading cause of fatalities and injuries
for children under the age of four. In 1998, 44 children under 4 were
killed, and 3,097 injured in traffic crashes. In addition, hospital
discharge forms indicated that $7,723,387 was spent on children involved
in vehicle crashes, with half this amount subsidized by the state's
medical supplement program, Medi-Cal. Although observational studies
revealed that 85.9 percent of children under age four were restrained,
as many as 99 percent of these children were not restrained properly.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
In an effort to address
this serious safety issue, the California Department of Health Services
(DHS) developed the Buckle Up Our Future (BUOF) project in 1998. The
primary goal of the BUOF project is to reduce traffic crash-related
injuries and fatalities suffered by children under the age of four.
This goal will be accomplished through the following objectives:
- Increasing the proper
use of child safety seats
- Selecting and empowering
a statewide broker of traffic safety resources
- Developing a statewide
infrastructure of child passenger safety programs
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
California
safety officials designated DHS as the agency to coordinate all child
passenger safety programs and resources throughout the state. Charged
with the mandate to reduce crash related fatalities and injuries for
children, DHS developed BUOF as a two-pronged program to reorganize
and coordinate the existing diverse traffic safety programs throughout
the state, and develop products to reinforce traffic safety efforts.
Activities involved in the remodeling of the state's traffic safety
infrastructure through the BUOF project include the following:
- A total
of 58 county and three city health departments in California were
directed to establish trust accounts to serve as permanent sources
of child passenger safety funding
- Child passenger
safety programs were extended to include all 61 local health departments,
an increase from 46 local programs in 1997
- Each of
the 61 local health departments established a permanent child passenger
safety coordinator position
- A permanent
statewide child passenger safety Materials Review Committee was created
- Child Passenger
Safety Technician Training developed by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) was implemented statewide
- Several
local and federal organizations collaborated to establish a state
Special Kids Are Riding Safe program to address "special needs"
child passenger safety issues
Examples of
products developed to support program goals include the following:
- The Who's
Got Car Seats? directory of low cost and loaner child safety seat
programs throughout the state
- Child
Passenger Safety: The Health Care Connection (Are You in Compliance?)
Policy and Procedure Guidelines to assist local health departments
meet legal requirements
- California's
Car Seats Are Kid's Stuff: A Step-By-Step Guide to Designing, Implementing
and Evaluating Car Seat Projects
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