It's Child Passenger Safety Week!

In light of the fact that this is Child Passenger Safety Week, nationwide, I want to talk about the awesome stuff that the state of Texas is doing to further this cause. This stuff did not originate within the past day or so, but rather, has been going on for months.

All along the major roadways throughout El Paso, there are billboards in English and Spanish showing a girl correctly restrained in a carseat, with the message "3 out of 4 children aren't properly restrained in the car." and the web URL to bucklethemright.org, a site made by the state of Texas, to brief parents on proper carseat use. I though that was outstanding.

They took it one step further, though, and ran radio ads on every station, during prime driving hours, giving the same information as is on the billboards. Again, they do this in English on the English stations and Spanish on the Spanish stations, so it reaches everyone. I'm particularly glad that all of these ads are running in Spanish as well as English, because really, at the risk of sounding racist, it's the Mexicans who are the most lax on carseat use. Yeah, you bet I've seen some white people really drop the ball on this as well, but I see dozens of Mexican and Mexican-American children every single time I drive, who aren't even in carseats. I have never seen anyone else do that, so I think they need this message even more than the average American parent who can't be bothered to read an owner's manual.

Texas also did something really cool. They made a video about all the stuff that goes into buckling a kid in right, installing a carseat correctly, and even showing best practice rather than bare minimums. Sure, years ago, the AAP recommended rear-facing only to 1 and 20, but the recommendation has been 2 and beyond for several years now. The techs in the video show this. Also, while Texas does not have a harnessing law (only a proper use clause in the 8 or 4'9" carseat law, thus resulting in a lot of 3-year-olds in boosters) these techs showed a first grader moving from 5-point harness to high-back booster. Outstanding. Most kids aren't mature enough to sit properly (or big enough to sit safely) in a booster until they're 5 or 6, so they hit that one right on. Then for their example of moving from booster to just seatbelt, the kid they used was probably 11 years old (Even though TX law only requires them to be 8) and TRULY passed the 5-step test!! It was great!! They really knocked this one out of the park.

Now, of course, when I posted it gleefully to a carseat webpage, all anyone could do was pick it apart, so I'm just going to add in, so my inbox doesn't get filled with nasty-grams, I, too, noticed that the booster positions the belt poorly for the girl in the purple shirt right at the beginning, and that the kid who was turning forward-facing had long outgrown the rear-facing height limit of that seat, and that the kid in the Cosco seat toward the end has a low chest clip. I, too, noticed all these things, but people, take it for what it's worth. A government agency actually is promoting best practice. This is a video that thousands of Texan families will see, and some people will realize for the first time (because the techs say it time and time again on the video) "I've got to get those straps tight enough, and that clip goes at armpit level." It may even stick with some that you don't HAVE TO turn your kid forward-facing at a year and 20 pounds. It might even rub off on somebody that a Kindergartener could wear a 5-point harness, and that the minimum standard of the law is just that, a MINIMUM! I think Texas did a great job. That's all there is to it. If this video saves even one kid (or "Little Texan" as the website says!) then it's accomplished something great. Somehow, I think it'll accomplish way more than that.

For Child Passenger Safety Week, and always, remember to use carseats correctly every single time, and that a step up in carseat, is a step down in safety, so don't be in a rush. If you cannot afford a carseat, you can get one for free from the state of Texas. You can find information on that, on bucklethemright.org. I'll be posting all week about child passenger safety topics!