Kate Carr, President & CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide talks to CarNewsCafe about a frightening survey that should remind parents to always buckle up their kids. “Buckle Up: Every Ride, Every Time”
Our latest talk with Kate, sponsored by General Motors, left us puzzled and frankly said, bewildered. Some parents don’t buckle up their kids if they feel the trip is too short? Certainly, this is a dire reminder we need more than ever a serious driver education considering most accidents happens less than a few miles near where drivers reside.
According to our conversation with Kate and Safe Kids Worldwide: “…unintentional childhood injury, the leading cause of death and disability to children ages 1 to 14.” Kate wants to remind us that it only takes one time for a child to be riding in a car, not buckled in, for that moment to become a life forever changed. Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children and while the number of children dying in car crashes has declined by 58 percent since 1987, a new survey released indicates a trend toward not buckling up kids on every drive.
As part of National Child Passenger Safety Week, September 15-21, Safe Kids Worldwide has released “Buckle Up: Every Ride, Every Time,” a new study funded as part of a $2 million grant from the General Motors Foundation, that finds an alarming percentage of parents are not always taking the time to ensure their children are safely secured in vehicles. Over at CarNewsCafe, we feel this week should be extended to include the entire year, and onward.
Some Don’t Buckle Kids In Cars
“One in four parents admitted to having driven without their child buckled up in a car seat or booster seat. Further, 21 percent of parents said it was acceptable to drive with their child unrestrained if they are not driving far. However, 60 percent of crashes involving children occur 10 minutes or less from home. Some parents (16 percent) also feel it is acceptable to allow children to ride unrestrained on overnight trips. However, this is the time period when children are most likely to be injured in a crash.” According to Kate.
One in three of more affluent parents (34 percent), those with a household income of $100,000 or higher, said it was acceptable to leave their child unrestrained if they are not driving a far distance, compared to 15 percent of parents making less than $35,000. This seemed very particular to us. How would higher brackets income with the higher education put their children at harms reach? But parents with graduate degrees are twice as likely to say it is acceptable to drive without buckling up their children, compared to parents with a high school education, particularly when they are in a rush (20 percent compared to 10 percent). This is particularly troubling.
About Kate Carr:
Kate Carr, president and CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide
Safe Kids Worldwide is a global network of organizations dedicated to providing parents and caregivers with practical and proven resources to protect kids from unintentional injuries, the number one cause of death to children in the United States. Throughout the world, almost one million children die of an injury each year, and every one of these tragedies is preventable. Safe Kids works with an extensive network of more than 600 coalitions in the US and in 23 countries to reduce traffic injuries, drownings, falls, burns, poisonings and more. Since 1988, Safe Kids has helped reduce the U.S. childhood death rate from unintentional injury by 53 percent. Working together, we can do much more for kids everywhere. Prior to joining Safe Kids Worldwide in October 2011, Ms. Carr served as a managing director of Malaria No More and played a lead role in resource mobilization and expansion of programmatic activities in Africa. Ms. Carr’s experience in leading worldwide organizations includes the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation where, as president and CEO, she expanded the Foundation’s work beyond the United States and promoted global education, awareness, and compassion about children with HIV/AIDS. Ms. Carr’s political experience includes serving as Special Assistant to the President, Office of Public Liaison, at the White House and working on multiple local, state, and national campaigns.
