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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E883]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING NATIONAL CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY WEEK
______
HON. DINA TITUS
of nevada
in the house of representatives
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Ms. TITUS. Madam Speaker, I rise today during National Child
Passenger Safety Week (September 20-26, 2020) to recognize the great
strides we have made protecting our most vulnerable passengers: our
children. We have moved from a high in the 1970's of over 6,000 deaths
annually of children under 14 to fewer than 1,300 such deaths in 2018.
While one death is too many, this is a monumental shift. Much of our
progress is the result of child passenger safety (CPS) efforts to
secure children correctly in car seats that meet federal motor vehicle
safety standards (FMVSS) and are installed correctly in vehicles during
every ride.
Today, motor vehicle crashes remain a leading cause of childhood
injuries and fatalities and there is more we can do to protect
children. The more than 43,000 nationally certified child passenger
safety technicians (CPSTs) are a great resource for new parents and
caregivers who need help with the proper installation and use of car
seats. Their expertise in choosing and installing car seats has saved
lives, and there is a new platform to help them do this important job
even better.
Over the past several years, the National Digital Car Seat Check Form
(NDCF) was created through a partnership of the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), AAA Northern California, Nevada,
and Utah, the National Child Passenger Safety Board (NCPSB), Tennessee
Tech University's iCube, and Westat. The NDCF, managed by the National
Safety Council, is the first national electronic car seat check data
collection tool that is available to all nationally certified child
passenger safety technicians in the United States.
In addition to streamlining the collection of national data, this
information can assist state child passenger safety coordinators in
considering where services may need to be expanded to meet the needs of
all families, including those in rural and underserved communities. In
fact, this data can help support the provisions I authored in H.R. 2,
the Moving Forward Act, to support expansion of CPST training for
underserved populations.
Highway Safety Offices can tailor state marketing campaigns that
address child passenger safety and include information about the
highest forms of car seat misuse in their state. Further, available
data will lend insight into trends and patterns regarding misuse of car
seats and vehicle compatibility. This information has the potential to
influence engineering and design of car seats and vehicles and
subsequently increase safety for vehicle occupants.
The NDCF has been in development for almost four years through an
iterative process involving diverse representation from the field of
child passenger safety. As of September 20, 2020, 2,743 CPSTs have
created NDCF user accounts and more than 31,000 car seat check forms
have been submitted to the system. Every state in the United States has
registered CPSTs and has submitted data to this NDCF. The NDCF is also
in use in the territories and regions covered by the Indian Health
Services.
The hope is to have the opportunity for the NDCF to improve the
safety of our children. Data that can identify areas of need, recurring
fault mechanisms, lack of understanding on installation, and other
problems lead to reforms for everyone using car seats. These
improvements will save children's lives.
It is fitting that during Child Passenger Safety week I recognize
this major step forward in improving national CPS. I encourage my
colleagues to recognize the hard work of CPSTs in their communities who
give their time and talent for their labor of love--keeping children
safe.
____________________
