Shreveport Police Department

www.ci.shreveport.la.us/dept/police/spdnews

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 2, 2001

Contact: Kacee Hargrave, Public Information Officer

Seat belt technician training course needs public’s help

Shreveport Police Department is looking for residents who would like to have their child passenger safety seats inspected.

A free child safety seat clinic is to be held Saturday from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at Mall St. Vincent and will be the culmination of a four-day Child Passenger Safety Technician Course.

The training course begins Wednesday and runs from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at Willis-Knighton Medical Center and is being offered to law enforcement and medical field personnel.

Saturday’s seat belt clinic will serve as "on the job training" for those who graduate from the course. Parents will be able to bring their children and their safety seat to the mall for technicians to inspect whether the seat is right for the child and if it is installed correctly.

By becoming a Child Passenger Safety Technician, class participants can become a viable resource in the community for parents to get complete, accurate and current child passenger safety information.

Topics to be covered in the course include the dynamics of a crash, injury prevention and the state seat belt laws. Also addressed are the six main categories of child restraint systems and the elements of secure installation of child restraint systems.

The course is sponsored by the Willis-Knighton Medical Center, the Northwest Louisiana Safe Kids Coalition, the Shreveport Police Department, SPD’s Area 2 Weed and Seed and the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission.

The training course and the clinic are FREE.

Here are some thoughts to keep in mind about the importance of seat belts:

* An average of 114 people died each day in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. in 1999.

* Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of fatal and serious injury to children.

* One-third of all unintentional child deaths in the U.S. are the result of motor vehicle crashes. Half of all children who die in crashes were not restrained at all.

* For each child that dies in a crash, there are 125 children injured. About 45 percent of those require hospitalization and many sustain lifelong debilitating injuries including traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.

* About 90 percent of child safety seats in Louisiana are incorrectly used.

* Fatal and serious injuries of children can largely be prevented by correctly using appropriate child restraint systems.

- spd -