Motor vehicle travel can be dangerous for children. In fact, the leading cause of fatal injuries to children between the ages of 4 and 14 is car crashes. During the past 25 years much progress has been made in the area of child passenger protection. State laws have been passed, federal standards have been published, and parents have become more educated about how to keep their children safe in the car, on the school bus, while walking and while biking. These new laws, together with educational campaigns have helped to reduce the fatality rate for child passengers by nearly 50 percent over the past 25 years. Although those in the traffic safety community are pleased with the progress that has been made, many feel there is still much work to be done to keep child occupants safe. They believe that the gaps in current state child occupant protection laws need to be closed. State legislatures consider hundreds of bills each session designed to close these gaps and to strengthen current laws designed to keep child occupants safe. Legislators also consider laws to increase safety for child pedestrians and those who ride on school buses. Laws and programs designed to keep young drivers safe also have been passed by state legislatures. These programs include: • Education campaigns to raise public awareness about child occupant protection and other traffic safety issues. • Community programs to encourage safe walking and biking practices. • State agency partnerships with private companies to provide car seats to low-income families. These and other state laws, programs and education campaigns have been shown to effectively promote the use of child safety seats, bike helmets and seat belts, thereby assisting state legislators, parents and other members of the community to help ensure the highest level of safety for child occupants. This book provides state legislators and other interested parties with general information and policy options concerning children and traffic safety. Each chapter provides background information about a specific policy issue. A separate section in each chapter describes state laws on each policy topic. Chapter one discusses child occupant protection issues, including child safety seats, air bags and pickup trucks, in addition to current state laws and programs. Chapter two addresses pedestrian issues facing children, including bicycle helmet laws and walking to school safely. Chapter three details state and federal laws regarding school buses. Chapter four discusses alcohol-related child endangerment issues. Chapter five provides information related to teen drivers, including graduated licensing laws and other tools designed to keep teen drivers safe. Appendices provide additional information, resources and state-by-state information about laws. (Author/publisher)
Abstract