Buckle Up for Life teams with Toyota to promote Child Safety

Buckle Up For Life is a program founded by pediatric surgeon Victor Garcia, the director of Trauma Services at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and sponsored by Toyota.

Just imagine there was a disease that was killing children across America. And imagine that this disease could be easily prevented by one everyday action. For Garcia, this “disease” is injury, particularly from motor-related accidents, because children in the U.S are more likely to die from injuries than from cancer or communicable diseases.

While deaths from injury affect children across all ethnic lines and income brackets, statistically black and Latino children sustain injuries from motor-related accidents at a disproportionally higher rate for one simple reason: studies have shown that they are less likely to be buckled up or in a car seat.

The statistics are startling: Latino children are three times more likely to die in a vehicle crash than white children, while motor-related crashes are the leading cause of death for black children under the age of 14.

The reasons behind these statistics are varied and diverse, spanning cultural and economic divides. Low-income families may not have the money to buy car seats or a new car with working seat belts. Buckle Up for Life also found that Latino drivers often come from backgrounds where the transportation contrasts greatly from fast-moving, American-style freeways and roads. Culturally, some drivers simply didn’t grow up wearing seat belts, so they aren’t in the habit of buckling up in cars.

Buckle Up For Life fosters a communicative approach based on teamwork so that the targeted communities are empowered by the program and feel a sense of ownership, changing attitudes about safety.

“We shared with [church leaders] the stark reality that youth in their congregation were more at risk from injury and motor-related injury than kidnapping or drug use,“ Garcia says. “Once they understood the data, they were resoundingly supportive.”

Buckle Up For Life’s outreach efforts include regular Sunday school classes and ministers have supported the initiative by including sermons dedicated to safety.  Congregations also learn more through hands-on vehicle safety events where safety practices are demonstrated and participants receive free car seat inspections. Rather than simply dictating to people what to do, the group approached them as equals with the community. “It was deeper, richer, and more than a collaboration,” says Garcia. “We learned as much from the community as they learned from us.”

Taking the time to gain community trust through the support of the churches and congregations has been essential to the program’s impact. “There have been a lot of efforts to initiate community-based health programs, with very few successes. Those programs that were most successful were the ones that utilized and leveraged their influence that the church has in the community,” Garcia stresses.

So far, Buckle Up For Life has been extremely successful. In Cincinnati, the number of adults and children using seat belts and car seats has more than doubled after they participated in the program.

We here at Pohl & Berk applaud the efforts of organizations like Buckle Up for Life to promote child safety.  We have seen first hand the devastating effects these types of injuries can have on families.  While there may be no way to fully prevent all accidents and injuries, taking what precautions you may prevent greater tragedy later on.

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