PASSENGER SAFETY WEEK: SEAT-BELT USAGE BY CHILDREN STRESSED

Cape Girardeau Mayor Gene Rhodes signed a proclamation Wednesday distinguishing the week of Feb. 8-14 as Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week.

"The purpose of this proclamation is to draw attention to the fact that car crashes are the leading cause of death and injury for children," said Cape Girardeau Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr.

Each year more than 700 children under the age of 4 are killed and 48,400 injured in car accidents. That means more children in the United States are killed and crippled from car crashes than from any other cause of injury.

"It takes less than two minutes to correctly install a child safety seat every time your child rides with you," Boyd said. "That two minutes can reduce the risk of death or hospitalization of your child by 70 percent."

In Missouri, the law requires a child under 4 to be properly restrained in a child safety seat when riding in the front seat of any vehicle. In the back seat the child must at least be restrained by a seat belt - but preferably a safety seat.

If a person's vehicle is equipped with a passenger-side airbag, it is recommended that a safety seat be secured in the back seat.

Recent educational surveys conducted by Safe Kids Coalitions throughout the state reveal that 80 percent of Missourians are using child safety seats incorrectly.

To battle child deaths and injuries and to educate parents on responsible safety techniques, Kathy Leimer, a neurologist at St. Francis Hospital, travels throughout the region speaking to people about seat belts.

"In 1989 I saw a young child in the emergency room of the hospital - a victim of a car accident," Leimer said. "The boy died as a result of his injuries.

"Before that I thought that everyone used seat belts and buckled their kids up in the car. Then I looked around and saw how wrong I had been."

Leimer began a personal campaign - starting in her child's day care - to educate young people about the necessity of wearing seat belts in the car.

Since then Leimer has spoken to schools, day cares, preschools and parent groups all over Missouri. In April she will give a head injury prevention seminar in Pittsburgh.

"It kind of snowballed," Leimer said.

In the presentations she uses a hands-on group-participation method to convey her message.

"I tell (kids) why it's important that they wear their seat belts," Leimer said. "We encourage them to go out and spread the word of seat belt safety."

Leimer said that during the presentations discussions hit on topics like the importance of the "crash dummies" and what messages they are conveying, laws regarding the wearing of seat belts and the importance of wearing seat belts at all times.

The value of the lives of the children also are brought into focus.

"I tell them that they are special, and that if something happened to them we would lose them forever," Leimer said. "It teaches them that they are individuals."

Children receive stickers, handouts and sign pledge cards promising to wear their seat belts. The children can also sign cards that give them the "authority" to tell an adult or someone they care about that they should wear their seat belts too.

Leimer is also a member of the Cape Girardeau Safe Kids Coalition, where she serves on the Child Occupant Protection Team.

Wednesday's proclamation coincides with a National Child Passenger Safety Awareness Campaign sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.