FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 27, 2000

CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8755

COLUMBIA – The South Carolina Department of Public Safety today joined National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall in encouraging parents to make sure their children are restrained properly. Hall participated in a child safety seat check, held by DPS, at the Toys R Us on Harbison Boulevard as part of the Click It or Ticket campaign.

"We want to emphasize that while Click It or Ticket’s goal is to save adults’ lives and encourage people to buckle up, it’s also about bringing attention to child passenger safety as well," said DPS Director B. Boykin Rose. "So far, we’ve issued 695 child safety seat citations as part of the Click It or Ticket campaign. There is no excuse for not buckling up your children."

Last year in South Carolina, 16 children under the age of six were killed in motor vehicle crashes. Ten of those children were unrestrained. The law says that children under the age of six must use a child restraint system or the motor vehicle’s existing restraint system. Children three and under must use federally approved child safety seats.

Children under the age of six face a significant risk of dying in a vehicle collison if unrestrained. A child should never be held in an adult’s arms when riding in a vehicle. If a crash occurs, the adults will most likely not be able to hold the child and could crush the child from the force of the crash.

"It has been shown of the adults who do not use safety belts, 86 percent of those motorists do not place their children in a child restraint device either," Rose said. "We hope that our enforcement and public information efforts in recent days will have the effect of raising seat belt usage among adults and children."

The SC Department of Public Safety has a child seat fitting station at the Office of Highway Safety. The Office of Highway Safety is located at 300-A Outlet Point Boulevard. Anyone wishing to have their child seat checked for proper installation should contact the office for an appointment by calling 1-877-349-7187.

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