KANSAS
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT
BILL GRAVES, GOVERNOR
Gary R. Mitchell, Secretary

November 13, 1998

Contact: Jan Stegelman, 785-296-1223

Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition Stands Behind Expanded National Crackdown on Drivers Who Don't Buckle up Children

Coalition Joins Over 1,000 Groups Giving Their

"Endorsement for Enforcement"

Operation ABC Mobilization: America Buckles Up Children - the largest ever coordinated crackdown on drivers who don't buckle up children. The Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition joins over 1,000 organizations nationwide that endorse the intensive, 50-state lifesaving enforcement effort.

"Tens of thousands of law enforcement officers in all 50 states will be out in force protecting children from the greatest danger they face - being unrestrained in a crash," said Janet Dewey, Executive Director of the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign, sponsor of the Operation ABC Mobilization. "We know these officers are energized by the ground swell of support from organizations across the country like Kansas SAFE KIDS."

"Although only law enforcement officers can write the tickets, we stand firmly behind the lifesaving message each ticket delivers," said Jan Stegelman, Coordinator for the Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition. "Kansas SAFE KIDS is not only an association, we're parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who want to protect our children. The Operation ABC Mobilization is the kind of broad community-based movement our nation needs to save children's lives."

The Thanksgiving Operation ABC Mobilization comes on the heels of an extremely successful Mobilization last Memorial Day. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's observational surveys before and after the last May Mobilization showed

six million more people buckling up. This translates into an estimated 670 lives saved each year if these people continue to use their seat belts. In addition, a survey by the National Safety Council showed fatalities went down by more than 35 percent during the Mobilization / Memorial Day period.

"The impact of the last Operation ABC Mobilization clearly illustrates that high-visibility enforcement works," said Stegelman. "That is why the Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition gives its official Endorsement for Enforcement. We hope officers can expand the Mobilization's success and, once again, save lives with a clear message to America: The law requires that children be buckled up at all times. No exceptions. No excuses."

The Child Passenger Safety law in Kansas requires that all children under age 14 be protected by an approved child safety seat or safety belt in all seating positions inside the vehicle.

Crashes are the leading cause of death to American children. Over the last three years, 7,386 Kansas children age 0-14 were killed or injured in motor vehicle crashes. Approximately 77 percent of the children killed or seriously injured were not properly restrained by a child safety seat or wearing a seat belt.

Studies consistently show that the best way to get children buckled up is to get adults buckled up. According to observational data, when a driver buckles up, children are buckled up 87 percent of the time; however, when a driver is unbuckled, child belt use drops to only

24 percent. A recent study by the University of California, Irvine, reported in the journal Pediatrics found, "Driver restraint use was the strongest predictor of child restraint use...a restrained driver was three times more likely to restrain a child." That is why, increasingly, officers are strengthening enforcement of adult belt laws during the Operation ABC Mobilization.

Many drivers just don't believe they'll be in a crash, so they don't put on their own seat belt or make sure that children are restrained. The possibility of being stopped and ticketed is what it takes for many drivers to protect children by always buckling them up.

A survey of parents who have infants shows that the lack of adult belt use particularly endangers babies: parents who don't buckle up are more likely to improperly place babies the front seat, leaving them at serious risk of being injured or killed by an air bag. According to investigations, almost all of the children who have died from air bag related injuries were completely unrestrained, improperly restrained or were infants riding in a rear-facing infant seat.

"In addition to getting kids buckled up, we must get the word out to parents that all children 12 and under belong properly buckled up in the back seat - especially in a vehicle equipped with air bags," said Dewey. The Mobilization also seeks to reach part-time seat belt users. "Some people believe they secure their children, but they don't actually buckle them up on every trip, particularly the short trips," Dewey added. "Most crashes happen within a few miles from home. That's why it's so important to secure everyone in the vehicle every time and on every trip."

As part of their enforcement activities throughout the Operation ABC Mobilization, officers will distribute information on air bag safety and the importance of making sure children 12 and under ride properly buckled up in the back seat.

The Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition, Inc. is a nonprofit group of 60 statewide organizations and businesses that have joined to protect Kansas children from unintentional injury-- the leading killer of Kansas kids. Local coalitions and chapters are located in Wichita, Lawrence, Johnson County, Salina, Barber County, Topeka, Ford County, Manhattan, Hutchinson, Pottawatomie County, and Clay County. Kansas SAFE KIDS is part of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign.