The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission has partnered with the Hispanic Committee of the South (HCS) to conduct child safety seat programs targeted at the growing Hispanic community. Fatalities of Latino children is 72% higher than non-Latino children involved in car crashes. The program provides a certified technician who conducts car seat safety seminars and inspects car seats to make sure they are properly installed and meet safety standards.
Motor vehicle crashes kill more children ages 14 and under than any other cause. 1,800 deaths and over 274,000 injuries involving children occur each year. The majority of those crashes occur within 25 miles from the victim’s home and on roads with posted speed limits of 40 mph or less. That means that children are either not sitting in a properly belted safety seat or not in one at all.
This LHSC/HCS program is much needed and hopefully will provide crucial education to reduce these appalling death and injury statistics involving the Hispanic community.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
