SAFE KIDS promotes booster seat law
By Other
Published in News on January 7, 2005 2:01 PM
Wayne County SAFE KIDS is working with its state counterpart to educate parents and others about the new booster seat law.
Free booster seats are being offered locally for families who qualify.
As part of a "Booster Seat Blitz" to publicize the law that went into effect Jan. 1, SAFE KIDS, with the help of Wayne County Partnership for Children, has distributed more than 1,000 flyers and 135 activity kids for child care facility teachers to give parents.
Statewide, North Carolina SAFE KIDS coalitions distributed 150,000 of the grant-funded flyers. The effort was the first joint effort coalitions have held for a common event.
The new law mandates buckling children in a booster seat if they are younger than 8 years old or weigh less than 80 pounds.
"This blitz is a prime example of a team effort," said Insurance Commissioner and North Carolina SAFE KIDS Chairman Jim Long. "Without each coalition working at the local level, we could not have reached as many families as we did."
The Wayne County Partnership for Children has free booster seats available for families receiving some type of public assistance. For more information and to schedule a time to pick up one of the seats, call David Poythress at the Partnership, 735-3371, ext. 230.
The National SAFE KIDS Campaign is a national organization dedicated solely to the prevention of unintentional childhood injuries. Since 1996, the N.C. Department of Insurance has been the lead organization for the statewide SAFE KIDS Coalition.
The North Carolina Hospital Association is the founding sponsor in working with the Department of Insurance to expand unintentional childhood injury awareness.