[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 181 (Monday, September 20, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50861-50863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-24375]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Child Passenger Protection Education Grants
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT
ACTION: Announcement of grants for child passenger protection
education.
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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
announces a grant program under Section 2003(b) of the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) to implement child passenger
protection programs that are designed to prevent deaths and injuries to
children, educate the public concerning the proper installation of
child restraints, and train child passenger safety personnel concerning
child restraint use. This notice solicits applications from the States,
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Territories and the
Indian Tribes through the Secretary of the Interior.
DATES: Applications must be received by the office designated below on
or before December 15, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Applications must be submitted to the appropriate National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration Regional Administrator.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For program issues contact Ms. Joan
Tetrault, State and Community Services, NSC-01, NHTSA, 400 Seventh
Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590; telephone (202) 366-2121. For
legal issues contact Mr. John Donaldson, Office of the Chief Counsel,
NCC-30, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590,
telephone (202) 366-1834.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of unintentional
injury-related deaths among children under the age of 15 years, despite
a seven percent decline in the motor vehicle occupant death rate from
1987 to 1996. During the same time period, the motor vehicle occupant
nonfatal injury rate among children has increased by four percent.
Motor vehicle injuries and fatalities occur when children ride
unrestrained or are improperly restrained. This grant program is
intended to help reduce injuries and deaths by educating the public
about the importance of correctly installing and using child safety
seats, booster seats and seat belts.
[[Page 50862]]
1. Children Riding Unrestrained
Approximately 40 percent of children ages 1 through 15 years ride
unrestrained, placing them at more than twice the risk of death and
injury as those riding restrained. Child safety seats reduce the risk
of fatal injury in a crash by 69 percent for infants (less than 1 year
old) and by 47 percent for toddlers (1-4 years old). In 1997, there
were 594 occupant fatalities in passenger motor vehicles among children
under 5 years of age. Of those 594 fatalities, an estimated 298 (54
percent) were totally unrestrained. The problem of riding unrestrained
is not limited to infants and young children. From 1975 through 1997,
the lives of an estimated 3,894 children were saved by the use of child
restraints (child safety seats or adult safety belts). Among children
under age 15 who were killed as occupants in motor vehicle crashes in
1997, 63 percent were not using safety restraints at the time of the
collision.
Examination of the demographics of children killed in motor vehicle
crashes (for which the most recent available year is 1995) shows that
safety restraint use differs markedly by race. For example, while
somewhat less than half (43.3%) of white children up to age 9 riding in
passenger motor vehicles were using safety restraints at the time of
their deaths, that was true of only about one-quarter (28.2%) of black
children. Native American children under age 15 have a motor vehicle
occupant death rate twice that of white children. (Injury and fatality
data for other minority groups is currently being collected.) Restraint
use is also lower in rural areas and low-income communities. Lack of
access to affordable child safety seats and booster seats contributes
to a lower usage rate among low-income families. However, research
shows that 95 percent of low-income families who own a child safety
seat use it. Improving access to affordable child restraint systems and
educating parents and care givers about proper installation and use are
key components to improving use rates in these communities.
2. Misuse of Child Safety Seats and Improper Seating Positions
In 1997, 85 percent of infants (children under age 1) were
restrained while riding in motor vehicles, as were 60 percent of
children ages 1 to 5. However, it is estimated that approximately 80
percent of children who are placed in child safety seats are improperly
restrained. Furthermore, adult safety belts do not adequately protect
children ages 4 to 8 (about 40 to 80 pounds) from injury in a crash.
Although car booster seats are the best way to protect them, only six
percent of booster-age children are properly restrained in car booster
seats.
In addition, there is a high risk of severe injury or fatality to
children riding in the front seat of vehicles equipped with a passenger
side air bag, due to the deployment force of the air bag. However, even
if the air bag is shut off or there is no air bag, the back seat is the
safest place for children to ride. Under no circumstances should a
parent place a rear-facing infant seat in front of an air bag. It is
estimated that children ages 12 and under are 36 percent less likely to
die in a crash if seated in the rear seat of a passenger vehicle.
Child passenger safety professionals, educators, emergency
personnel and others need to be adequately trained on all aspects of
child restraint use in order to help reduce the problems of misuse and
encourage the safest seating positions for children riding in motor
vehicles. With these concerns in mind, the Transportation Equity Act
for the 21st Century (TEA-21), which the President signed into law on
June 9, 1998, established a new grant program under Section 2003(b) of
Title 23, United States Code, to promote child passenger protection
education and training.
New Grants for Child Passenger Protection
Section 2003 (b) provides Federal funds to States for activities
that are designed to prevent deaths and injuries to children; educate
the public concerning the design, selection, placement, and
installation of child restraints; and train and retrain child passenger
safety professionals, police officers, fire and emergency medical
personnel, and other educators concerning all aspects of child
restraint use. A State may expend the funds itself or elect to
distribute some or all of the funds to carry out the public education
and training activities as grants to political subdivisions of the
State or appropriate private entities. States are encouraged to direct
funds obtained through this grant program to organizations that can
deliver training and education to ensure positive impact in minority
and low income communities where lack of child passenger protection is
especially severe. Section 2003(b) provides that the Federal share of
the cost of a program carried out with the grant funds is not to exceed
80 percent. A State that receives a grant must submit a report
describing the program activities carried out with the funds.
Application Procedures
A. Use of Funds
To be eligible for funding under Section 2003(b), a State must
submit an application that addresses how the State will implement child
passenger protection programs that meet each of the three requirements
listed below. For the education and training components, the grant
application must identify expected program accomplishments, such as the
estimated number of public education messages to be distributed (e.g.
public service announcements or printed materials) and the type of
audience to be targeted by these messages (e.g. minority or low-income
communities); the estimated number of and type of training classes
conducted; the number of child safety seat clinics or check-ups
performed; and the number of fitting stations established.
Specifically, the State must implement a child passenger protection
program that:
1. Is designed to prevent deaths and injuries to children. The
State should provide a statement describing how their program supports
efforts to prevent deaths and injuries to children.
2. Educates the public on all aspects of child passenger safety.
The public education program may include strategies to increase child
restraint use for children up to age 16, increase use among targeted
populations (e.g., minority, rural, low-income, or special needs
populations), or develop and implement child safety seat clinics and/or
permanent locations where consumer's can have child safety seats and
booster seats inspected. Additional information under public education
may be included relevant to proper use of child restraint systems,
booster seats and FMVSS 225, the Universal Child Safety Seat System
(UCSSS).
At a minimum, the public education program must:
(a) Provide a summary of the information that the State intends to
include or develop in the public education program. The information
must address at least the following topics:
All aspects of proper installation of child restraints
using standard seat belt hardware, supplemental hardware, and
modification devices (if needed), including special installation
techniques;
Appropriate child restraint design, selection, and
placement [NHTSA interprets this to include instruction about proper
seating positions for children in air bag equipped vehicles]; and
[[Page 50863]]
Harness threading and harness adjustment on child
restraints.
(b) Include a description of the public education information
methods that the State intends to employ, how these messages will be
delivered to the target population, and expected accomplishments. The
methods could include billboards, public service announcements, and
published materials. It is also important to deliver this information
in the language of the targeted group.
3. Trains and retrains child passenger safety professionals, police
officers, fire and emergency medical personnel, and other educators
concerning all aspects of child restraint use. At a minimum, States
should include in the application a description of or reference to the
curricula that the State will use to train and retrain child passenger
safety experts to reach the targeted population and expected
accomplishments.
All persons selected for training and retraining as child passenger
safety professionals should achieve and maintain at least some minimum
standards of expertise. In collaboration with several partners, NHTSA
has developed several model curricula including: ``Mobilizing America
to Buckle Up Children'' and ``Operation Kids'' for law enforcement
officers; and the ``Standardized Child Passenger Safety Training
Program'' for child passenger safety professional candidates. States
are not restricted to using only these curricula, but States are
encouraged to incorporate the learning objectives of these courses into
the training and retraining provided to child passenger safety experts.
Funding for this grant program is intended to help States develop and
sustain adequate cadres of persons with technical expertise in child
passenger protection who will directly serve the public through child
safety seat clinics, checkpoints, workshops, fitting stations and other
training and educational opportunities.
B. Certification
The State must submit certifications that: (i) It will use the
funds awarded under this grant program exclusively to implement a child
passenger protection program in accordance with the requirements of 23
U.S.C. 2003(b); (ii) It will administer the funds in accordance with 49
CFR Part 18 and OMB Circular A-87; and (iii) It will provide to the
NHTSA Regional Administrator no later than 15 months after the grant
award a report of activities carried out with grant funds and
accomplishments to date.
C. Eligibility Requirements
Eligibility is limited to the 50 States, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, the U.S. Territories (which include the Virgin Islands,
Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands) through their Governor's Office of Highway Safety, and Indian
Tribes through the Secretary of the Interior.
Award Procedures
The authorization for this program is $7,500,000 for each fiscal
year of 2000 and 2001, and is subject to appropriations. (Separate
applications must be submitted for each fiscal year.) Awards to
applicants meeting the requirements of this notice will be made based
upon the formula used for Section 402 apportionment, subject to the
availability of funds. The amount awarded to each State qualifying
under this program shall be determined by multiplying the amount
appropriated for this grant program for the fiscal year by the ratio
that the amount of funds apportioned to each such State under 23 U.S.C.
402 for the fiscal year bears to the total amount of funds apportioned
to all such States under Section 402 for such fiscal year. Applicants
will be required to submit to NHTSA within 30 days of notification that
an award is made, a program cost summary (HS Form 217) obligating the
Section 2003(b) funds to child passenger protection education programs.
The Federal funding share may not exceed 80% of the program cost, and
States should clearly identify their share in the program cost summary
(HS Form 217).
Each State must submit one original and two copies of the
application package to the appropriate NHTSA Regional Administrator.
Only complete application packages submitted by a Governor's Highway
Safety Representative and received on or before December 15, 1999 will
be considered for funding in fiscal year 2000. The agency will publish
a future notice covering grant funds for fiscal year 2001.
NHTSA Publications Available To Support Public Education
A number of NHTSA publications are available through the Traffic
Safety Materials Catalog that address child passenger safety program
topics. The Are You Using It Right? brochure illustrates a number of
errors and the correct method of installing and using child passenger
safety seats. Parents' Guide to Booster Seats illustrates the proper
way to use different types of booster seats and includes information
about purchasing and installing booster seats. Nine of fourteen
``tips'' in Child Transportation Safety Tips address child passenger
safety issues including proper installation, appropriate child
restraint design, selection, and placement, harness threading and
harness adjustment, and proper seating positions for children in air
bag equipped vehicles. Child Transportation Safety Tips is available in
English, Spanish, Chinese, French, Russian, Haitian Creole, Portuguese
and Vietnamese. These materials may be ordered from the NHTSA web site
at >HTTP://WWW.NHTSA.DOT.GOV< or contacting the Media and Marketing
Division, NTS-21 by fax at (202) 493-2062.
Issued on: September 15, 1999.
Ricardo Martinez,
Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
[FR Doc. 99-24375 Filed 9-17-99; 8:45 am]
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