Is your community a "safe community"? The Safe Communities program helps communities become well organized and committed to injury prevention, with a solid plan for action. Everyone is involved - medical and health workers, elected officials, business people, police, safety advocates and concerned citizens. You may already have a great local resource to implement new or expanded child passenger safety efforts. To find out more, contact your NHTSA Regional Office or your Governor's Highway Safety Representative (see State and Local Resources).

State and local law enforcement agencies and sheriffs' offices are most likely already involved with child passenger safety, bike safety and other related issues. Make sure they are part of any campaign or special event you plan, and keep your community or traffic safety officers in the loop all year long. Help your law enforcement agencies remain well stocked with tip sheets, brochures and other consumer information that they can hand out while conducting tours, lecturing in schools, etc. Recruit their help early on for any public event, especially a child safety checkpoint.

Hospitals and pediatricians' offices are great places to reach first-time parents and help install good safety habits from the start. Develop an infant seat check as part of newborn hospital discharge procedures. Work with local pediatricians to distribute consumer information or hold safety seat clinics. Encourage them to "Give Kids A Boost" by emphasizing booster seat use when parents bring their four- and five-year-olds in for kindergarten booster shots. Check with the American Academy of Pediatrics at 1-800-433-9016 or www.aap.org for information on pediatricians in your area who support AAP's child passenger safety efforts.

Safe Kids Coalitions are part of a national organization that focuses local efforts and resources on the prevention of all childhood injuries, including traffic crashes. If there is a Safe Kids Coalition in your area, work with them to begin or expand child passenger safety efforts. For more information, contact the National SAFE KIDS Campaign at 202-662-0600 or www.safekids.org.

State Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Offices, Head Start programs and Public Health Departments are a good place to distribute and display child passenger safety materials and/or conduct safety clinics for low-income families who are, unfortunately, less likely to be buckling up properly or to have access to child safety seats.

Community service organizations – Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis, JayCees, Optimists, etc. – often work on children's issues and have local networks of concerned, active members. Look in the calendar listing of your local newspaper for upcoming events and contact information, and bring these organizations into your child passenger safety network if they are not there already.

The local chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons is a great place to recruit grandparents into the child passenger safety habit. Set up a child safety seat lending service for visiting grandchildren and offer instruction on how to use child safety seats properly. For more information, contact AARP at 202-434-2277 or www.aarp.org. You might also check into other groups for active seniors, such as veterans groups, faith-based institutions and community service organizations.

The faith community – churches, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship, as well as community service groups such as Knights of Columbus and the Masons – can be an excellent resource for delivering child passenger safety messages to the community, either through presentations by spiritual leaders during services or in activities such as parish fairs, newsletters, youth and children's groups, and other activities. Many places of worship also run daycare and after-school centers, as well as community activity centers for youth. They communicate frequently with parents through written and verbal communications, and often welcome outside speakers and demonstrations related to safety issues.

Success Story

"Buckle Up For Bucks" in Arkansas

The Arkansas Safety Belt Coalition is implementing "Buckle Up For Bucks," a popular incentive campaign to boost belt use in the state during the December holidays. The goal is to increase awareness of the buckle up message during the high-travel, high-risk holiday period. The program enables businesses to gain media exposure as well as provide a public service, with a minimal contribution.

Each sponsoring business donates eight $5.00 bills, which the Arkansas Safety Belt Coalition mounts on a custom certificate.

Members of the Arkansas Safety Belt Coalition's Safe Travel Action Team, or STAT, are posted at the participating businesses (exact sites are kept confidential until the event). "At an appointed time, as drivers use the drive-through windows, those motorists who are buckled up receive $5.00 and the certificate for being properly restrained," said Lydia Robertson, director of the Arkansas Safety Belt Coalition.

In the Little Rock area, another sponsor, the Pulaski County Youth Accident Prevention Program, provides reminder cards containing Lifesaver Candy©, and the message, "Safety Belts are Lifesavers too – Please wear yours" for the motorists who were not wearing seat belts as they used the business' drive-through windows.

A media notice is done for the local media and television and print reporters are on hand to cover the activities at the sponsoring businesses. The event has been held concurrently in towns around Arkansas to reward and remind motorists about the importance of always wearing a safety belt.

The "Buckle Up For Bucks" event has been well-covered and the sponsoring businesses have been pleased at the publicity received.

According to Robertson, "Buckle Up For Bucks is one of the most enjoyable promotions that the Arkansas Safety Belt Coalition is involved in."

For more information on this program, contact Lydia Robertson at 501-664-6157, 1400 Brookwood, Little Rock, AR 72202; e-mail is lrenterprises@aristotle.net.

[NOTE: This success story was adapted from the Buckle Up America Best Practices Bulletin, Number 99-3.]