GHSA and State Farm® have released a new tool to help State Highway Safety Offices more effectively partner with community leaders, Child Passenger Safety Technicians (CPSTs) and others working to protect kids in motor vehicles.
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CONTACT: Caroline Cash, 240-409-6375
Comprehensive roadmap gives practical advice, case studies and best practices for making child passenger safety a top priority and programs more efficient
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Halloween is a time of increased risk for car crashes and injuries, and drivers must take extra care to ensure that all occupants stay safe, ensuring kids are properly buckled up. Today, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and State Farm released a new tool to help State Highway Safety Offices (SHSO) more effectively partner with community leaders, Child Passenger Safety Technicians (CPSTs) and others working to protect kids in motor vehicles.
Motor vehicle injuries are a leading cause of death among children in the U.S., but correctly used child restraints and systems save lives. Each year, with 700 children – more than two every day – dying in traffic crashes while riding in motor vehicles, children’s safety on the road should be a priority on Halloween and year-round. Properly buckling children in an age-appropriate and correctly used car seat is one of the single most effective ways to help keep them safe in the event of a crash. Yet more than two-thirds (67%) of car seats were improperly installed or used last year, according to a new analysis released by AAA.
With support from SHSOs, 40,000 nationally certified CPSTs provide free education and car seat inspections to millions of parents and caregivers. The roadmap lays out how SHSOs and their partners can be more strategic in addressing child passenger safety, as they work to prevent injuries and fatalities amongst our most vulnerable population.
“Since every state, Tribal community and county is different, there is no single solution to child passenger safety. Local leaders must adapt to unique characteristics and changing attitudes,” said GHSA Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Adkins. “The CPS Roadmap provides a practical guide that everyone working to protect children can use to keep our most precious cargo safe.”
The new CPS Roadmap discusses five key strategies designed to help SHSOs and their partners be more impactful as they collaborate to eliminate these preventable child deaths and injuries:
“State Farm is proud to partner with GHSA in supporting SHSOs with new resources that are vital to their mission of protecting everyone on the road,” said Rasheed Merritt, Assistant Vice President, State Farm Corporate Responsibility. “This CPS Roadmap offers states and communities valuable guidance and innovative strategies to address existing gaps, helping make programs more effective and impactful in saving lives.”
The guide, Child Passenger Safety: A Roadmap for State Highway Safety Offices, is available now on the GHSA website.
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The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) is a nonprofit association representing the highway safety offices of states, territories, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. GHSA provides leadership and representation for the states and territories to improve traffic safety, influence national policy, enhance program management and promote best practices. Its members are appointed by their Governors to administer federal and state highway safety funds and implement state highway safety plans.
For over 100 years, the mission of State Farm has been to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto and home insurance in the United States. It’s more than 19,200 agents and 67,000 employees serve over 91 million policies and accounts – including auto, fire, life, health, commercial policies and financial services accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 39 on the 2024 Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit www.statefarm.com.
