Kick Off Event

Launch your National Child Passenger Safety Week activities and set the tone for the whole week with a family-oriented event that you can invite the media to cover. The key messages this year are:

• Child safety seats – including booster seats – are very effective in saving children's lives during crashes.
• It is critical for parents not to skip booster seats altogether and not to move their children too quickly into adult seat belt systems.
• Parents, grandparents and caregivers should have their child safety seats inspected by a certified child safety seat technician in their community.

In April 1997, the President set a goal to reduce child passenger fatalities 15 percent by 2000 and 25 percent by 2005. So far, the progress has been good - in the first two years child motor vehicle fatalities were down 12.3 percent. Your community could announce similar goals based on the areas of greatest need in your state or community. For information on your state's highway safety statistics, contact your Governor's Highway Safety Representative (see State and Local Resources in this Program Planner).

Work with your local PTAs, libraries, daycare centers, scouts, boys and girls clubs, and other youth groups to host a contest. Post "Buckle Up Challenge" (or "Bike Helmet Challenge") sign-up posters in building lobbies and challenge the groups to see how many people they can get to make the pledge. Ask local merchants to donate prizes or awards. Ask the groups involved to help generate publicity in the community.

Work with the local media to get television and radio public service announcements (PSAs) played on the air throughout National Child Passenger Safety Week. Ask newspapers to print a list of tips for parents (use NHTSA's Child Passenger Safety Tips or create your own). Invite traffic reporters to cover your events and encourage safe child passenger safety habits during their broadcasts.

Ask a parent whose child was saved by a child safety seat or booster seat/seat belt combination to serve as your campaign's spokesperson. Everyone likes hearing personal stories, especially those with a happy ending. Arrange to have your spokesperson appear as a guest on talk shows or "magazine" format news programs.

Work with pediatricians and preschools in your area to reach the parents of three- and -four-year-old children with the message that children should "graduate" from a child safety seat to a booster seat, not directly to a seat belt. Distribute NHTSA materials or reproduce tip sheets on the importance of booster seats (see Program Publications for Planner 21 to order materials or the Camera-Ready Art Catalog for reproducible materials, both in this Program Planner).

Give awards to citizen groups, community leaders and others who have helped with child passenger safety efforts over the past year. Recognizing your key supporters not only rewards them for a good job, but it may also inspire others when they hear about the successful programs these groups and individuals have brought about.