Safe Kids Checkup Events: A National Study

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death to children ages 3-14 and the leading cause of injury death for children under age 3. Since 1996, Safe Kids Worldwide has partnered with General Motors to provide child passenger safety education targeted to caregivers and parents at the community level. The program promotes correct child restraint use and increases awareness about the benefits of keeping children in child restraints for as long as possible. Safe Kids events are held at GM and Chevrolet dealerships, hospitals, retail outlets and other community venues to provide as much local exposure as possible. A checkup event allows a parent/caregiver to work one on one with a certified child passenger safety technician in their own vehicle with a child present. The message given to all parents at all Safe Kids events is to keep children appropriately restrained for their age, weight and height. A standardized checklist is used for documentation. Safe Kids Worldwide developed the checklist in the late 1990s to be used for all grant-funded activities. The checklists have been used to assist manufacturers in addressing areas of repeated misuse so the product can be re-engineered appropriately. The checklist provides a guided, standardized tool for car seat technicians to ensure that they have addressed key safety components with parents and caregivers. The objective of this study was to measure parent confidence levels, skill development and safe behavior over a six-week interval using the checklists and a matching behavioral survey.