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Slater Announces Plan For Improving Child Restraint Systems

23 November 2000

U.S. Transportation Secretary Slater Announces Plan For Improving Child Restraint Systems

    WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 To advance the Clinton-Gore
administration's comprehensive strategy to protect child passengers, U.S.
Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater today announced a draft child
restraint systems safety plan and invited public comment.
    The Child Restraint Systems Safety Plan by the U.S. Department of
Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration outlines more
than 30 new or ongoing agency activities to improve motor vehicle safety for
children from infancy through age 10.
    "We are committed to reducing death and injuries of children in motor
vehicle crashes and the plan will help advance this effort," said Secretary
Slater.  "Parents want the best for their children, and their protection from
injury in a crash is of paramount concern -- safety is President Clinton and
Vice President Gore's highest transportation priority."
    "It is imperative that we at NHTSA take every possible step to advance the
cause of child passenger safety through innovative program development," said
Dr. Sue Bailey, the agency's administrator.
    The Child Restraint Systems Safety Plan focuses on two major strategies:
encouraging the correct use of safety seats that afford optimal protection and
providing useful consumer information on child passenger safety.
    The plan proposes that NHTSA add safety seats to vehicles that are crash
tested through its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP); develop a 10-year-old
child dummy to better evaluate the performance of booster seats designed for
larger children; review test procedures for NHTSA's standard on child safety
seats; publish a "best practices" guide for organizations planning to
establish safety seat fitting stations; and provide additional consumer
information on the features and proper use of safety seats.
    In announcing data from the 1999 Fatality Analysis Reporting System
earlier this month, Secretary Slater noted that President Clinton's goal of
reducing fatalities among children under five by 15 percent, set in 1997, was
met in 1999, one year ahead of the President's target date.  Fatalities in
this group decreased to 555 in 1999 from 652 in 1996.
    In announcing The Child Restraint Systems Safety Plan, Secretary Slater
reminded all parents and caregivers to always transport young children in the
back seat of a motor vehicle and be sure they are properly restrained for
every trip.  In addition, all children who weigh 40 to 80 pounds should use
booster seats in combination with adult lap-shoulder belts.
    NHTSA deputy administrator Rosalyn G. Millman last May announced before a
House Commerce subcommittee that the Department would develop The Child
Restraint Systems Safety Plan.