Highlight your state's child passenger safety laws. Invite the media to observe police officers at work and to publicize their efforts. If allowed, your organization can work along side police officers and hand out "Valentines" (lollipops for children, coupon packs for parents, etc.) to families who are properly buckled up.

Conduct a survey at a shopping center, grocery store or other busy area on the topic of tougher child passenger safety laws. Chances are that your area will track with national surveys that show widespread support for such policies. Let the media know ahead of time that you are doing this and release your results to them by mid-afternoon in order to make the evening news broadcasts and the morning newspapers.

Give away a child safety seat to the first baby born on Valentine's Day in your community. Make arrangements with your local hospital to invite the media to the discharge of your "Safe Little Valentine" (with the parents' permission). Have the head of your child passenger safety program install the free seat for the parents and demonstrate the process for any reporters who cover the event.

Arrange with daycare centers, toy stores or children's clothing shops to demonstrate booster seats to parents of 3-8 year olds. Emphasize to parents of preschoolers that when a child reaches age four and 40 pounds, he should "graduate" into a booster seat, not directly to a seat belt.

Focus on grandparents by including them in promotional activities. An independent nationwide poll found that one in five grandparents say they "never" use a child safety seat when transporting their grandchildren. The poll, commissioned by Nissan North America, Inc., is particularly alarming when compared to other studies that show more than five million grandparents serve as primary childcare providers and that 40 percent of grandparents report that their grandchildren rode with them an average of 3-4 times per month.

Ask stores and companies in your area to give away free Valentine treats or gifts to the children – candy, stickers, etc. – with a "Buckle Up" message. Display a large Valentine with a "Buckle Up" pledge and ask people to sign it (be sure to have crayons on hand for kids to sign, too). Give a Valentine, cookie or other treat to those who sign, along with a copy of the pledge.

Look for the Child Passenger Safety Week 2000 Buckle Up America Action Guide (coming out in January) for more information on NHTSA's plans for a satellite media tour.

Emphasize booster seats for children 40-80 pounds and approximately four to eight years old. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for all children ages 5-15 (as well as for older teens and young adults), and as children grow older they are less likely to be buckled up. Booster seats help the vehicle's seat belts fit better and protect the child better in the event of a crash. Currently, only about six percent of the children who have outgrown a child safety seat are in a booster seat. Increasing booster seat use is a major highway safety goal.

You can reproduce the following Child Transportation Safety Tips to distribute to your constituents:

• Tip #1 – Quick Safety Seat Checkup
• Tip #2 – Where Should Your Child Ride?
• Tip #3 – How to Protect Your New Baby in the Car
• Tip #4 – What Safety Seat to Use for a Big Baby or Toddler?
• Tip #5 – How Should Preschool and School Children Ride Safely?
• Tip #6 – Is Your Safety Seat Secure in the Car?

Success Story

Increasing Belt Use Among Illinois Teens

Communities concerned about the high crash rates and low seat belt use rates of teens might want to borrow some ideas from Operation SCORE (Student Concentrated Occupant Restraint Efforts). The Illinois State Police, District One, began Operation SCORE to address these problems in their four-county area. In 1997, 216 teens were killed in crashes in Illinois, and 175 of them were unbelted. Many states report similar experiences. Operation SCORE uses the current drivers education curriculum and adheres to the Illinois State Police "zero tolerance" policy on the enforcement of seat belt laws. The program has three phases:

• pre-program seat belt surveys to determine the current compliance rate of all District One high schools;
• concentrated "zero tolerance" enforcement of seat belt laws around all high schools in the district, enhanced with school announcements and posters; and
• post-program seat belt surveys at the end of the school year to measure the progress of seat belt compliance.

The initial seat belt surveys showed only a 43 percent seat belt use rate among motorists traveling around high schools in District One. The Illinois State Police goal is a seat belt compliance rate above 70 percent.

"Although the Illinois State Police enforces a 'zero tolerance' policy toward seat belt enforcement, the Operation SCORE program is designed to get the new driver into the life-long habit of wearing a seat belt whenever they are in a vehicle, no matter where they are seated," said Lieutenant Richard Shannahan, Illinois State Police, District One Commander. "As an agency, we strive for voluntary compliance versus the issuance of citations. We also strive to lower the death rate due to crashes of Illinois' most valuable asset, our youth," Shannahan added.

The second phase (concentrated zero tolerance enforcement of the seat belt laws around all high schools) began at the end of January 1999. The final survey results (1998-99 school year) showed that 10 out of the 24 District One high schools achieved a 70 percent or higher seat belt compliance rate. These schools were presented with plaques by the Illinois Department of Transportation and NHTSA at an awards ceremony hosted by the state police. Stillman Valley and Byron High Schools achieved 82 and 80 percent, respectively.

For more information, contact District One Commander Lt. Richard Shannahan or Master Sgt. Thomas Shippert at 815-632-4010.

[NOTE: This success story was adapted from the Buckle Up America Best Practices Bulletin, Number 99-14.]