Texas A&M AgriLife Extension is proud to announce that we are now a car seat fitting station for the residents of Brazoria County. Shana Kutac, County Extension Agent, will be conducting child safety seat inspections. Each inspection will educate the care giver on the best practices of car seat installation. Our experienced County Extension Agent will demonstate to the care giver how to properly install a car seat and the care giver will leave with a car seat they installed themselves. Parents unable to afford one will be given a car seat. All inspections will be done on Mondays by appointment only. Each inspection will take up to 1 hour per seat. Please call, 979-864-1558 to schedule your appointment.
Thanks to program funding by the Texas Department of Transportation, TxDOT, the Passenger Safety Project of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has reduced deaths and injuries due to motor vehicle crashes.
For more than 20 years, the Passenger Safety Project of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has been focusing its efforts on the proper use of child safety seats to reduce injuries and deaths from vehicle collisions. (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo)
TxDOT has been funding the Passenger Safety Project since 1988, said Bev Kellner, AgriLife Extension program manager in the agency’s Family and Community Health Unit. In 1999, the project began to focus on child passenger safety through its car seat program.
TxDOT’s partnership with AgriLife Extension helps to deliver important life-saving traffic safety messages to the entire state through the agency’s county agents. And Texas A&M AgriLife has injury prevention as an important part of its overall health initiative, Kellner said.
“This year, the Passenger Safety Project is adding education on seat belt use and distracted driving in addition to child passenger safety,” she said.
Kellner said the Passenger Safety Project, which is funded through competitively awarded federal funds, conducts National Child Passenger Safety Technician Certification Training to certify technicians to assist parents with child safety seat education. The proper use of child safety seats reduces the risk of injury and death, leading to reduced medical costs, avoidance of lost future earnings and improved quality of life, Kellner said.
“Through this project, trained technicians deliver educational programs on child passenger safety in their community and educate parents one-on-one about the correct installation and usage of their child safety seat,” she said. “In 2018, fewer than 28% of children nationwide were properly restrained.”
Kellner said the program is designed to reach all the public, but aspects are tailored to make sure low-income Texans have access to child safety seats.
“The lack of access to affordable child safety seats contributes to a lower usage rate among low-income families,” she said. “Although the project reaches a variety of audiences across the state, most of the clientele are low-income and/or minority families. When needed, a replacement seat is issued at no charge to parents or caregivers at child safety seat checkup events and at fitting station appointments.”
Kellner said the Passenger Safety Project brings a much needed and measurable benefit to Texans.
“Child safety seats are 71% effective in reducing fatal injury for infants and 54% effective for toddlers,” Kellner said.
For more information, go to https://passengersafety.tamu.edu
