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Press Release

GOVERNOR DAVIS ANNOUNCES $1.5 MILLION IN
CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY GRANTS TO PUBLIC HOSPITALS

LOS ANGLELES

Governor Gray Davis today announced the award of $1.5 million in traffic safety grants to public hospitals and health systems throughout California. The grants are designed to provide technical assistance to expand and improve child passenger safety education efforts through the hospital system in order to reach groups at greater risk for motor vehicle injuries.

The grants will provide education to parents and care givers, distribution of car seats, child safety seat inspections and training to physicians and nurses on how to teach patients about proper car seat use. The hospitals will also work to develop creative strategies to assist low-income, culturally diverse families to address the various challenges to adopting child passenger safety practices, including language barriers, cultural beliefs, cost, older vehicles, use of borrowed cars, buses and taxis. The grants will also address the special child passenger safety needs of children in the foster care system.

“Traffic safety is about saving lives and reducing injuries,” Governor Davis said. “These programs have helped California become a national bellwether for traffic safety. Educating the public about proper child passenger safety is another tool for local organizations in their effort to create a safer environment.”

At an Office of Traffic Safety news briefing at Martin Luther King, Jr./Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, it was noted that the grant program will also provide for the distribution of car seats and training for physicians and nurses about how to teach patients about proper car seat use.

The following seven public hospitals and health systems will receive grant funds: Contra Costa Regional Medical Center (Martinez); Monterey County Health Department/Natividad Medical Center (Salinas); San Joaquin General Hospital (French Camp); UCSD Medical Center (San Diego); Harbor UCLA Medical Center (Torrance); LAC+USC Medical Center (Los Angeles); Martin Luther King Jr. Drew Medical Center (Los Angeles).

The $1.5 million includes a concentrated effort to educate the public about California’s new booster seat legislation, signed by Governor Gray Davis, which takes full effect in January 2002. The new law will expand on the current law and will require children to ride properly restrained in safety seats or booster seats up to six years of age or 60 pounds.

The California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency will administer the grants through the Office of Traffic Safety. The California Health Care Safety Net Institute will provide program oversight and coordination, promoting collaboration among participating public hospitals and health systems and oversee program evaluation. Funding for Los Angeles County's component will be under the Los Angeles County Public Health Department.

Quick Facts - California Traffic Safety

• California has the highest child safety seat use rate in the nation at 92.6%
• California has an 88.9% safety belt usage rate -- highest in the nation

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