2005-41
NEWS RELEASE:   September 20, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FROM:   The Kansas Highway Patrol
CONTACT:   LT John Eichkorn 785-296-6800

Troopers Receive Child Passenger Training Seats

One seat will be assigned to each Patrol troop

Training and demonstrations for proper installation of child passenger safety seats has been made easier for the Kansas Highway Patrol, as seven new child passenger training seats were donated to the Patrol today by the AAA Traffic Safety Fund and the Kansas Department of Transportation.

The training seats are actual full size vehicle seats equipped with various types of seat belt systems. These tools will allow troopers to demonstrate how to properly install child passenger safety seats using different seat belt systems. They also will use the seats in "Booster to Belts" programs and training other troopers and members of the public as child passenger safety technicians and future instructors.

Colonel William Seck, Superintendent of the Patrol, said, "The Patrol truly appreciates the AAA Traffic Safety Fund and KDOT for providing us with these invaluable training tools. Their kind donation is yet another example of public and private sectors coming together to serve and protect the public, especially children."

Eight seats were donated, with one seat going to KDOT's Kansas Safety Belt Education Office in Lawrence. The remaining seven seats will be divided among the Patrol's seven field troops. The seats will be stored and transported in child passenger safety trailers, which are used by public resource officers in training classes and in talking to the public about the importance of booster seats.

KDOT's “Booster to Belts” program emphasizes the importance of using booster seats for children under 4'9" and who are 40 to 80 pounds. There were 246 "Booster to Belts" programs given last year to more than 10,700 children. Many of those programs were given by KHP troopers. Booster seats provide a transition from a conventional child safety seat to a seat belt, and lift children up so the lap harness and shoulder strap fit properly across the child's hips, chest and shoulder. Straps across a child's stomach or neck may cause serious injury or death in a crash.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), children prematurely moved to seat belts are four times more likely to suffer serious injury than children in safety seats or booster seats. In addition, 80 percent to 90 percent of children who should use a booster seat do not. NHTSA reports that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 2 to 14. More than 40 percent of child passengers under age 8 who die or suffer incapacitating injuries in crashes are completely unrestrained, and the use of child restraints drops from 91 percent to 69 percent when children reach age 4, according to NHTSA.

In Kansas, 59 percent of children 0 to 14 years old use safety restraints, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation. KDOT reports that 81 percent of children 0 to 4 use seat belts and seats, and the use of safety restraints drops to 49 percent for children 5 to 9 and 47 percent for children 10 to 14.

The use of child passenger safety seats is a primary law in Kansas, which means a driver can be stopped solely for not having a child passenger properly restrained in the vehicle. All children under the age of 4 are required to be in federally-approved child safety seats, and children ages 4 to 14 must be protected by a seat belt.