Increasing the Use of Child Restraints in Motor Vehicles in a Hispanic Neighborhood

Abstract

The use of restraints in motor vehicles is less common in minority and low-income populations than in the general population. A preliminary survey of Hispanic preschool-aged children in west Dallas, Tex, conducted in 1997 showed much lower child restraint use (19% of those surveyed) than among preschool children of all races in the rest of the city (62%). Because there are few reports of successful programs to increase child restraint use among Hispanics, we undertook to implement and evaluate such a program. The program was conducted by bilingual staff and was tailored for this community. It was successful in increasing both child restraint use and driver seat belt use.