Some pretty daunting statistics, huh? DaimlerChrysler and the National Safety Council thought so, too. Enough, in fact, that DaimlerChrysler gave more than $10 million to fund the Fit for a Kid campaign to inspect and install child safety seats in automobiles. Now available in almost 400 DaimlerChrysler dealerships, in 80 cities nationwide, the program is still growing. DaimlerChrysler provides these inspections at their dealerships, free of charge.

DC recently announced that their child safety seat inspection program is now available to all vehicle makes and models. Working with Fischer-Price and the National Safety Council, DaimlerChrysler’s Susan Cischke, Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Passenger Car Operations, along with James Hall, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, were the kick-off speakers at the Chicago Auto Show during Press Days.

"Arthur"

To assist in getting this message to parents is the literary-based character Arthur, along with his sister D.W. Arthur, an aardvark created by author/illustrator Mark Brown, is the star of several children’s books and PBS television specials. On board at DC to help educate parents and caregivers about child seat safety, Arthur and D.W. will star in Fit for a Kid’s multimillion dollar campaign, to be released in late February. With an audience of 14 million viewers weekly, they’re the perfect duo to get the message across.

DC/National Safety Council Survey

DaimlerChrysler, in cooperation with the National Safety Council sponsored a national survey of 600 adults who regularly drive children. Conducted by Alexandria, VA based Public Opinion Strategies, the survey was part of an extensive interview, focus group research study designed to provide a clear picture of consumer awareness of the problem of child safety.

The telephone surveyors interviewed adult drivers who transport children eight years or younger at least twice a week. More than 40 percent of those surveyed were unaware that national safety experts recommend that all child seats be inspected. And six out of 10 of the participants were unaware of where to take the seat to be inspected.

“It is clear that the entire safety community has a real job to do to inform parents that eight out of ten children are at risk and that there are places to go for help,” said Chuck Hurley, executive director of public affairs, National Safety Council.

Also learned during the interviews was that there are two key times when parents are most likely to have a child safety seat inspected: When a baby is born (51 percent) and when they buy a new child seat (22 percent). Once parents make the decision to have the seat inspected, they want to do it quickly; four out of five responding they want the service within eight days. Making the process simple for people was noted as an important factor; where and when people can have the seats inspected.

In 1996, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a study on the performance and use of child restraint systems, seat belts and air bags for children in passenger vehicles. Data from 120 accidents in which a child under the age of 11 was involved was analyzed. Part of the study examined whether the child restraint system was properly used: Was the child secured in the child restraint system according to instructions, and properly secured to the vehicle. In 62 percent of the cases, the Safety Board determined that either 1) the restraint was improperly secured in the vehicle, or 2) the child was improperly secured in the child restraint, or 3) both errors occurred. Other problems noted were misrouted or too loose seat belts, improper use of locking clips, child restraints facing the wrong direction, and the harness too loose or inappropriately threaded through the wrong slots or not doubled back to avoid loosening.

The Safety Board has conducted other studies (1983, 1985, 1988) regarding child safety restraint use, resulting in similar findings. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found similar results, and in 1995, sponsored a study of more than 5,900 children, in which misuse of the restraints was observed in 79.5 percent of the cases.

The burden of properly installing child safety restraint systems in vehicles has been placed on parents and caregivers of children for the last 25-30 years, the NTSB notes. However, the task has become much more difficult—and vital—due to the increasing number of types of vehicles on the road and the increasing number of child restraints. Producing brochures that accurately explain all these combinations hasn’t been possible, therefore, educating the public has been difficult.

Hallmarks of the Program

DaimlerChrysler dealerships have trained a total of 650 inspectors to participate in Fit for a Kid. Dealers will schedule appointments for those interested in the inspection, however, an appointment is not necessary. Inspection of a child safety seat takes about 20 minutes to complete. Plans are to have the inspection program available in 1,000 Five Star dealerships by the end of this year, Fit for a Kid inspection programs will have the capacity to inspect an estimated 800,000 child safety seats a year.
Fit for a Kid will be an ongoing inspection program, stressed DC’s Cischke. As a child grows, re-inspection of the safety seat becomes necessary. As attempts are continually made at changing the safety culture in the United States, DaimlerChrysler and the National Safety Council will be at the forefront, leading the cause.