News Release

Safe Kids Oklahoma

6800 N.W. 39th Expressway | Bethany, OK 73008| 405-470-2304 |
www.safekids.org/coalition/safe-kids-oklahoma

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact Information:

Dec. 12, 2018 Alexandra Moore

Media Contact

918-859-9278

Alexandra.c.moore-1@ou.edu

The Safe Kids Oklahoma Coalition Encourages Heightened Safety Practices

This Holiday Season

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Safe Kids coalition of Oklahoma encourages parents to

practice proper vehicle safety this upcoming holiday season by ensuring children are

properly secured in vehicles with seatbelts and car seats.

According to the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office, 1,078 people were involved in

473 crashes over the Christmas holiday in 2016. 257 people were injured and four died

in 166 of those crashes.

Safe Kids reports that in 2015, approximately 427,000 children visited

emergency departments due to motor vehicle collisions.

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Safe Kids Oklahoma Coordinator Kim Gray encourages parents to take a closer

look at how they secure their children in a car, because seat belt system is unique.

“Most of the death and injuries occurring to children in motor vehicles can be

prevented by using car seats and seat belts correctly. Surveys indicate that despite

significant increases in car seat usage in the past three years, about 23 percent of

Oklahoma children still ride unrestrained,” said Gray.

Safe Kids report that child safety seats reduce fatal injury by 54 percent for

toddlers and 71 percent for infants less than 1 year old. Parents are also encouraged to

keep using booster seats until their child exceeds 80 pounds. A child who is unable to

properly wear a seatbelt could be subjected to more injuries due to the misplacement of

the seatbelt on the body.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lieutenant Tom Trooper describes his experiences

with car crashes involving children.

“What makes me so angry is to see a baby ejected from a car. There’s no reason

for it. What someone is ejected, you can almost guarantee they weren’t buckled in. I’ve

seen rollover accidents where a baby went through a windshield and the car rolled over

them. If that baby had been bucked up, he would have been in his car seat and probably

would have had a few cuts and bruises.”

Safe Kids sponsors workshops in conjunction with The Children’s Center

Rehabilitation Hospital for parents to learn what they need to know regarding child car

safety. The workshops include car seat tutorials, crisis situation management and basic

car safety. Register for workshops at www.safekids.org/coalition/safe-kids-oklahoma.

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Safe Kids Oklahoma provides operation support and other resources to assist in

achieving the goal to keep kids safe. Based on the needs of the community, the coalition

implements evidence-based programs, such as car-seat checkups, safety workshops and

sports clinics, that help parents and caregivers prevent childhood injuries. For more

information, visit www.safekids.org/coalition/safe-kids-oklahoma.

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