Governors Highway Safety Association
The States' Voice on Highway Safety

Child Passenger Safety: A Roadmap for State Highway Safety Offices

A child in a car seat in the back seat of a car with an adult on either side
GHSA Reports
October 29, 2025

This tool, from GHSA and State Farm®, helps 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.

With support from State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs), 40,000 nationally certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians provide free education and car seat inspections to millions of parents and caregivers. This 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.

The Roadmap and an accompanying CPS Planning Worksheet are available as PDFs that you can view in your browser, download, or print, so you can learn in the way that's most useful to you.

Cover of a Child Passenger Safety Roadmap document
Cover of a child passenger safety worksheet

Five Key Recommendations from the Roadmap

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:

  • Use data to focus efforts: Crash, ZIP code and demographic data can help SHSOs pinpoint high-risk areas, track results and direct resources where they can have the greatest impact.
  • Prioritize clear, consistent education: Help technicians and others convey accurate and consistent information to caregivers that recognize cultural, language and literary differences.
  • Expand and support the CPST network: Sponsoring online and hybrid training options and fostering mentorships helps build the pipeline of skilled practitioners across the entire country.
  • Maximize impact through partnerships and strategic funding: Collaborating with traditional and nontraditional partners and pooling resources can help bolster the impact of state and federal funds invested in child passenger safety.
  • Evaluate and adapt to foster long-term success: Regularly reviewing outreach and impact data makes it easier to refine strategies and adapt to evolving needs.

Partner

State Farm

Related Issues

Child Passengers

Related Resources