Enhancing the enforcement of child passenger safety laws : issues, problems, and the role of the local advocate.

The success of mandatory child restraint laws in 40 states now rests to a great extent on state and local enforcement activities, activities that are perceived by advocates as being at a very low level. It appears that major problems involve (1) the low level of enforcement by local police, (2) enforcement by only certain subgroups of officers in any department (3) administrative delays and lack of support, (4) the lack of police training activities, and (5) the lack of coordination between local police and local community advocates.