All seat belt use rates are on the rise, but unfortunately most ethnic populations still use seat belts and child safety seats less often than the overall population. Because children are more likely to be buckled up if their parents are buckled up, this puts more minority children at risk, too. Minority children are also more often in potentially dangerous seating positions. A 1998 survey by the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign found that 42 percent of minority children are at greater risk of air bag-related injuries because they are more frequently placed in the front seat of vehicles with passenger-side air bags. All children 12 and under should ride in the back seat.

Seat belt use among African Americans is almost four percentage points lower than the overall population (65.3 percent in 1998). Research conducted by Meharry Medical College of Nashville, Tennessee, concluded that if all African Americans were properly buckled up, 1,300 African-American lives would be saved and 26,000 injuries could be avoided each year, along with a savings of $2.6 billion in societal costs. The Meharry research also showed that African American youth are 50 percent less likely to be buckled up than whites or Hispanics, and concluded that lower seat belt use rates among African-American adults also puts children at risk, because when adult motorists are buckled up, children are more likely to be buckled up.

Many prominent public health leaders, including Surgeon General David Satcher, have expressed concern about this problem among the African-American population. Many established organizations in the African-American community are working closely with NHTSA to increase seat belt use among African Americans, including the National Black Nurses Association, the National Urban League, the National Council of Negro Women, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the Congress of National Black Churches, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, and others. These efforts are working. Seat belt use among African-Americans is on the rise (the current rate of 65.3 percent is up from 51.3 percent in 1996).

The Meharry report also refutes the notion that seat belt use laws mean that police officers are more likely to stop or harass African American motorists. A recent survey conducted by the National Black Caucus of State Legislators and the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign found that African Americans support primary safety belt laws by a 3-to-1 margin. A tiny fraction of those surveyed (one half of one percent) reported race-related harassment problems as a result of their state's seat belt law.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Hispanics through the age of 24 and the second leading cause of death for Hispanics ages 25-44. NHTSA is working with organizations in the Hispanic/Latino communities to increase seat belt and child safety seat use in these populations, and to promote pedestrian, bicycle and school bus safety with materials targeted for these populations. The agency also supports private sector initiatives such as a partnership between the United Auto Workers, the National Council of La Raza and General Motors Corporation to distribute child safety seats to low-income Hispanic families.

NHTSA has participated in several events with the National Association of Hispanic Nurses regarding the "Buckle Up America" campaign, and is also working with ASPIRA, Inc., an Hispanic organization that focuses on youth, to develop projects that support the BUA campaign. NHTSA's child safety seat campaign also has an Hispanic version called "Corazon de Mi Vida."

The agency also has formalized a partnership with the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), the primary organization for physicians within the Hispanic community, with a network of 26,000 physician members, 1,800 full-time Hispanic medical faculty throughout the U.S., and an office and staff Washington, D.C. The Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two organizations focuses on the goal of developing safety messages that are culturally appropriate for Hispanic audiences, rather than simply translating general messages, and involving Hispanic physicians in conceiving, developing and distributing safety messages to the Hispanic community.

NHTSA has worked with the Indian Health Service and the Native American Injury Prevention Coalition to promote "Buckle Up America" activities and other traffic safety campaigns among Native American communities.

For more information on any of these diversity initiatives, contact your NHTSA Regional Office. Contact your Governor's Highway Safety Representative to learn how your state is engaging specific populations (see State and Local Resources in this Program Planner).

In addition to programming outreach, NHTSA is also committed to making consumer education materials available to more diverse audiences. The Child Transportation Safety Tips, which are reproduced in this Program Planner in English, are also available in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Haitian, Creole, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese. Many other materials, including pedestrian safety and school bus safety information, are available in Spanish

Success Story

Reaching Out to Hispanic Populations Through Media Support

By the year 2000, Hispanics in the United States will make up about 11 percent of the population. The lack of safety belt use has become a cause for concern in Hispanic communities around the country. In particular, Hispanic children are not being properly restrained in child safety seats.

To address this problem, [then] NHTSA Administrator Ricardo Martinez, M.D. and U.S. Congressman Bob Menendez of New Jersey united to host a Child Passenger Safety Seat Clinic at the Hudson Square Mall [in New Jersey in June 1998]. Dr. Martinez and Congressman Menendez offered the audience words of wisdom to encourage the proper use of child passenger safety seats. Dr. Martinez stressed the fact that these clinics are extremely useful in alerting parents to the fact that they may not be placing their children in child safety seats correctly.

On hand to cover the event, along with other television stations, was Telemundo. The presence of Telemundo at this event is significant because it is one of only two Spanish language television broadcast networks in the United States. The process of attracting an Hispanic network such as Telemundo is no different from getting any other network to cover an event.

The following are tips to get the media involved:

• The most opportune time to cover an event is at the beginning of the week in the late morning or early afternoon hours (media advisories should be sent at least five days in advance).
• A media event should not be held close to the weekend or on the weekend.
• Media kits should be prepared (in Spanish, if the target audience is Hispanic); often times media kits are not sent to the minority press.
• Keep press conferences short; limit the number of speakers.
• Prepare talking points so that everyone remains focused and maintains the prepared message.
• If you would like to attract a particular audience, invite a guest speaker who is a member of that target audience. For example, if you are trying to reach the Hispanic population, invite a Hispanic leader to speak.
• Get to know reporters who cover traffic safety issues and call on them personally to advise them of an event to help get them involved.

If your event is newsworthy and well-timed the media will certainly be present. Keep these tips in mind and you are sure to have a successful and well covered event! For more information on this program, please contact Richard Simon at 914-682-6162 or Sam Haiman at 787-766-5090.

Excerpted from the Buckle Up America "Best Practices Bulletin" (Number 98-12, Region 2)

Success Story

Successful Safe Communities: Two Examples

Safe Communities coalitions function as an umbrella that encompasses a number of injury prevention programs such as "Buckle Up America" and focuses on addressing issues at the local level. Many Safe Communities programs have clearly created safer environments for the residents of their community. Safe Communities coalitions begin because individuals recognize an injury-related problem and enlist the help of others to develop and implement programs that attack the problem. Two coalitions that have made notable contributions to their communities illustrate the Safe Communities concept: Norwich, Connecticut and Fort Worth, Texas.

Norwich, Connecticut

The residents of Norwich decided to create a Safe Community after the tragic deaths of two children who were struck and killed by an automobile while crossing the street. The members of the community were outraged and decided to do something about it. Meetings were organized to address traffic safety problems. Since the inception of the Norwich Safe Community, safety has improved in their community. For example, because of the coalition's success in sparking community awareness, seat belt use is above 90 percent. Norwich Police Chief Louis J. Fusaro attributes this to the city's Saving a Life is a Snap campaign, introduced during "Buckle Up America" Week.

Fort Worth, Texas

Trauma nurses at the Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, took a stand against the increasing number of unbelted teens involved in crashes. They created the Committee for Responsible Auto Safety Habits (CRASH), a new Safe Communities partnership. CRASH is very involved with the "Buckle Up America" initiative in area high schools. As one of their many activities, mini footballs with the slogan "Catch the Habit" have been distributed to students to spread the buckle up message.

How does a community become a Safe Community?

• Citizens get together to form a group or coalition.
• The coalition usually has members from the medical/public health field, law enforcement, service organizations, local businesses, media/public relations, and most importantly, the citizens of the community.
• These individuals work to develop a partnership so that they may improve safety in all areas that affect a community.
• The coalition examines their local injury and fatality data, which helps determine their most significant injury issues.
• Based upon the data analysis, communities implement programs tailored to their specific needs.

What are the benefits of developing a Safe Community?

• Safe Community coalitions are in an excellent position to promote primary seat belt policies and local ordinances, and to support closing the gaps in child safety seat laws.
• Coalitions can generate an "Endorsement for Enforcement" from mayors, town councils, boards of supervisors and other elected officials in support of vigorous enforcement of occupant protection laws.
• Safe Communities, working with the media, can bring attention to seat belt and child safety seat issues.
• Coalitions promote seat belt and child safety seat use through special events, clinics, workshops and training.

For more information, contact Bruce Shults at the Safe Communities Service Center at 817-978-3653 or e-mail: Safe.Communities@nhtsa.dot.gov. You may access the Web site at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/safecommunities.

[NOTE: This success story was adapted from the Buckle Up America Best Practices Bulletin, Number 98-16.]