Butte County gets grants for car seat, bike safety

OROVILLE » Butte County Public Health has been awarded grants for child passenger safety and bike and pedestrian safety.

Both grants were awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

According to a BCPH press release, between 20152020, 757 bicycle and pedestrian crashes were reported, resulting in 65 deaths and 740 injuries in the county. In 2018, the county was ranked the sixth worst out of the 58 California counties for the number of bicyclists killed or injured in a crash and ninth worst for the number who were 15 years old and younger. Additionally, according to the release, while California law mandates bicyclists under 18 to wear a helmet at all times, helmet use in the county is low. For example, in a recent observation conducted near downtown Chico, only about 30 percent of youth and adult bicyclists wore a helmet.

The one-year “Bike and Pedestrian Safety Program” grant for $77,000 funds activities promoting bicycle, pedestrian, and vehicle safety education and will be conducted in partnership with schools and local community groups. Outreach events will include virtual classroom presentations, distribution of helmet and safety equipment, bicycle rodeos, diversion programs for people cited by law enforcement and safety workshops. Education will also focus on increasing bike and pedestrian awareness of laws.

Motor vehicle crashes continue to be a leading cause of death for children and adolescents at the national level. In 2019, Butte County data shows that approximately 9 percent of children involved in motor vehicle crashes under the age of 8 were not properly secured in a car or booster seat and were only utilizing a lap/shoulder belt, and 3 percent were not restrained at all. Additionally, 26 children under the age of 8 were injured and 14 children between the ages of 9 and 12 were injured and one death was reported, according to the BCPH press release.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wearing seat belts and properly buckling children into age- and size-appropriate car and booster seats can reduce the risk for injury by 71 to 82 percent.

Based on inspections done by BCPH Child Passenger Safety Technicians, approximately 80 to 90 percent of car and booster seats are used incorrectly in Butte County. A primary goal of the program is to equip families in need with no-cost car seats and to provide high-quality training for individuals to become Child Passenger Safety Technicians to reduce motor vehicle injury to children.

Activities funded by the $153,000 grant include one-on-one appointments to inspect caregivers’ car seats; child safety seat inspection events and education classes; child safety seats at no-cost to families in need following education classes; Child Passenger Safety Technician certification and recertification courses; and work with local organizations to train staff and promote child passenger safety education.

To locate a car seat fitting inspection station or to register for a car seat class, parents and caregivers can visit the Public Health Child Passenger Safety website at www.buttecounty.net/ph/ Programs/ChildPassengerSafety or call 1-800-3392941.