picture of truck picture of speedometer Traffic Safety Digest Summer 2003
 
Project Characteristics
Injury Prevention
Program Areas
Occupant Protection
Child Passenger Safety
Type of Jurisdiction
City/Borough
Targeted Population
Parents of Children Under 8
Jurisdiction Size
83,000
Funding
None
Contact
Mary Rodman-Lopez
Alaska Hwy Safety Office
(907) 465-4375 mary_rodman_lopez@dot.state.ak.us

Digest Listing

     

ALASKA
Fairbanks Safe Rider Program

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Located in the central part of the state and just south of the Arctic Circle, Fairbanks is the gateway to Alaska’s vast interior and expansive Arctic. Fairbanks experiences climatic extremes marked by colder winters and warmer summers than any other area of the state. In fact, Fairbanks is synonymous with winter from late October through March. These unique weather patterns make many outdoor activities a challenge, with temperatures regularly dipping to minus 20 degrees and lower during the winter months.

Despite these harsh conditions, the injury control community in and around Fairbanks wanted child safety seat checks to occur year-round. The data collected at fitting stations, by local child passenger safety coordinators, showed that 92 percent of child safety seats were installed incorrectly with varying degrees of misuse; putting child motor vehicle passengers at risk for injury or death. In an effort to offer year-round, indoor child seat safety checks a relationship was forged between the child passenger safety community and the local fire department. The result of this relationship is the Fairbanks Safe Rider program.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The Fairbanks Safe Rider program was designed to:

  • Offer the public a comfortable, year-round venue for car seat safety checks;

  • Provide a regularly scheduled fitting station for the residents of Fairbanks and the North Star Borough;

  • Educate parents and caregivers on the importance of installing child safety seats correctly;

  • Increase the number of child safety seat checks from 200 to 300 per calendar year; and

  • Increase the number of individuals who received at least two hours of training in child passenger safety by 50 percent.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

In coordination with local fire departments, child safety seat technicians were able to sponsor regularly scheduled car seat installation check-up events using the indoor bays at each fire department. Child passenger safety classes were also offered at regular intervals in Fairbanks. In addition, the various child passenger safety training opportunities available were announced to community agencies and other organizations. Child passenger safety instructors also taught courses at daycare centers, pre-schools, and churches upon request.

RESULTS

Child passenger safety is a visible and important contributor to the injury prevention efforts in and around the North Star Borough. Initial data collection shows an increase in the number of correctly installed car seats.

In 2003, the number of car seats checked increased compared to last year.  

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