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NTSB Chairman Opens Child and Youth Transportation Safety Initiative at Safety Seat Check Event

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman recently launched the agency's initiative to promote child and youth safety across all transportation modes, with a particular focus on educating parents and caregivers about ways to keep children safe when traveling. The yearlong effort was first announced at the NTSB's forum on Child Passenger Safety in the Air and in Automobiles in December.

At a child safety seat check event in Bristow, Virginia sponsored by the Prince William County Fire and Rescue, Chairman Hersman spoke about child passenger safety and her own plans to renew her certification as a CPS technician.

"These community-sponsored seat checks give parents peace of mind," Hersman said. "Every parent wants their child to be safe, so knowing that trained and knowledgeable CPS technicians are available to make sure that their child safety seats have been installed properly is invaluable to them."

To view the video that captured highlights of the event, please visit: www.ntsb.gov/children.

Chairman Hersman noted that not all states have adequate child passenger safety laws. "As state legislatures begin their 2011 sessions, the NTSB is calling upon legislators to pass laws that ensure that all children up to 8 years old are using child safety and booster seats."

Florida, the most lenient in child passenger safety laws, requires child safety seats only for children age 3 years or younger. The laws in Arizona, South Dakota, American Samoa and Puerto Rico are only slightly more protective, covering children age 4 years or younger. Twelve states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and South Carolina) mandate child restraints for children age 5 or younger and six states (Connecticut, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, and North Dakota) only cover children age 6 or younger.

The issue of improving child occupant protection has been on the NTSB's Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements since 1997. To learn more about this issue, please visit the NTSB website at: www.ntsb.gov/Recs/mostwanted/child_occupant.htm

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Media contact:

Bridget Ann Serchak

202-314-6100

bridget.serchak@ntsb.gov

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Credit: National Transportation Safety Board (www.ntsb.gov)