motorcyclist rounding corner on a country road at night
Traffic Safety Digest
digest edition is Summer 2001
MISSISSIPPI
Buckle For Life

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS
Targets hard-to-reach/at risk population
PROGRAM AREA(S)
Occupant Protection
TYPE OF JURISDICTION
State
 
TARGETED POPULATION
Children Ages 1 to 8
JURISDICTION SIZE
2,844,658


PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Each year, more than 1,000 children are seriously injured in motor vehicle crashes on Mississippi roads. In 1997, only 50 percent of Mississippi's children were restrained in child safety seats while riding in a motor vehicle, and an estimated 80 percent of these were improperly restrained. As a result, 27 children died in motor vehicle crashes during 1997.

Seat belt and child restraint use rates in Mississippi remain among the lowest in the nation. From 1994 to 1997, seat belt use by adults averaged 48 percent, and child safety seat use remained at 50 percent. In 1998, occupant restraint use in Mississippi increased substantially; from 48 to 58 percent for seat belts, and from 50 to 59 percent for child safety seats. In 1999, child restraint use increased to 63.2 percent. However, adult seat belt use decreased to 54.5 percent in 1999, and to 50.35 percent in 2000.


GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
In an effort to increase child safety seat use by 10 percent statewide, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety developed the Buckle For Life program. Specific objectives of the program are to:

  • Educate and inform parents of the requirement to restrain children
  • Make child safety restraint use a priority for all Mississippi residents
  • Encourage the public to report vehicles observed transporting unrestrained children


STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The Buckle For Life program concept was originally established by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety in 1995. Beginning in 2000, the program focus was expanded to provide a statewide citizen reporting system for non-use of safety restraints. Mississippi residents are encouraged to report the license tag numbers of vehicles they observe transporting an unrestrained child. Tag numbers of violators can be reported by calling a toll-free telephone number, or using a pre-printed Buckle For Life card. Once a violator's tag number is received, project staff send the registered owner of the vehicle a letter and educational information on the importance of restraining children, along with a telephone number for the vehicle owner to call to ask questions and receive additional information.

The Buckle For Life program distributes educational materials on child safety restraints to the general public each quarter at a variety of local events. An annual briefing program on child safety devices is also conducted for law enforcement officers throughout Mississippi.


RESULTS
Since the Buckle For Life statewide citizen reporting system was initiated in 2000, approximately 100 calls per week have been received reporting violators' license tag numbers, and requesting child restraint information. Program staff also receive an average of 65 to 85 reporting cards per month, and respond by sending letters and information to vehicle owners.

As a result of Buckle For Life, the child safety restraint use rate in Mississippi increased from 63.2 percent in 1999 to 67 percent in 2000. An annual Buckle for Life Luncheon honors police officers statewide for their efforts to encourage parents to properly restrain their children.

 

FUNDING
Section 402: $85,000
State: $17,691
CONTACT
Billy Terrell
Governor's Representative for Highway Safety
Division of Public Safety Planning
3755 I-55 North Frontage Road
Jackson, MS 39211
(601) 987-4990



National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Summer 2001
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