FROM THE ARCHIVE

Tribes receive child safety seats

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DECEMBER 7, 2000

Citing increased risk of Native American children to car crashes, the Ford Motor Company on Wednesday donated 15,000 booster seats to 43 tribes and health organizations.

"Motor vehicle crashes are the leading killer of American Indian youth," said Dr. Michael Trujillo, Director of Indian Health Service (IHS). "The seats provided by Ford Motor Company will make a significant impact in the effort to reduce injury and increase motor vehicle occupant restraint use among our youth."

Safety experts recommend that children children weighing 40-80 pounds, typically ages four to eight, use booster seats. The seats position children by raising them up so that lap and shoulder belts, typically designed for adults, provide them with adequate protection.

But according to the Ford's Boost America campaign, usage of booster seats is extremely low. Fewer than 7 percent of the nation's children use them, says Ford.

Among Native American children, the number is equally low, says the IHS, underscoring the great risks Native Americans of all ages face due to motor vehicle crashes.

According to the IHS, American Indians and Alaska Natives have an extremely high death rate from crashes. Although the rate has been steadily declining since 1988, there were 47 deaths per 100,000 Native Americans in 1992, compared to just 15.8 per 100,000 for the country as a whole. Alcohol-related crashes of Native Americans are more than twice as high as the national average.

In response, tribes throughout the nation have developed initiatives aimed at preventing more deaths. The country's largest tribe, the Navajo Nation, has seen success since instituting a mandatory safety-belt and child restraining law in 1988.

Since then, seat belt use has increased to about 70 percent, up from 14 percent of use by adults and 7 percent of use by children. Additionally, hospitalization due to crashes has decreased 45 percent.

Similarly, the four tribes in North Dakota have improved roads, updated vehicle safety regulations, and developed educational campaigns in response to statistics which showed Native Americans were involved in 15 percent of traffic fatalities despite comprising only 3 percent of the state's population.

List of Tribes:
List of tribes receiving booster seats (The Medicine Wheel 12/7)

Relevant Links:
Child Seat Inspection Stations - www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/whatis/regions/index.cfm?fitting=yes
Boost America - www.boostamerica.org
Boost 'Em Before You Buckle 'Em - www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/childps/Boosterseat/index.html
Injury Prevention, Indian Health Service - www.ihs.gov/medicalprograms/injuryprevention/index.asp
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control - www.cdc.gov/ncipc/ncipchm.htm