[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 166 (Thursday, September 24, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E883]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING NATIONAL CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY WEEK

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                            HON. DINA TITUS

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 24, 2020

  Ms. TITUS. Madam Speaker, I rise today during National Child 
Passenger Safety Week (September 20-26, 2020) to recognize the great 
strides we have made protecting our most vulnerable passengers: our 
children. We have moved from a high in the 1970's of over 6,000 deaths 
annually of children under 14 to fewer than 1,300 such deaths in 2018. 
While one death is too many, this is a monumental shift. Much of our 
progress is the result of child passenger safety (CPS) efforts to 
secure children correctly in car seats that meet federal motor vehicle 
safety standards (FMVSS) and are installed correctly in vehicles during 
every ride.
  Today, motor vehicle crashes remain a leading cause of childhood 
injuries and fatalities and there is more we can do to protect 
children. The more than 43,000 nationally certified child passenger 
safety technicians (CPSTs) are a great resource for new parents and 
caregivers who need help with the proper installation and use of car 
seats. Their expertise in choosing and installing car seats has saved 
lives, and there is a new platform to help them do this important job 
even better.
  Over the past several years, the National Digital Car Seat Check Form 
(NDCF) was created through a partnership of the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), AAA Northern California, Nevada, 
and Utah, the National Child Passenger Safety Board (NCPSB), Tennessee 
Tech University's iCube, and Westat. The NDCF, managed by the National 
Safety Council, is the first national electronic car seat check data 
collection tool that is available to all nationally certified child 
passenger safety technicians in the United States.
  In addition to streamlining the collection of national data, this 
information can assist state child passenger safety coordinators in 
considering where services may need to be expanded to meet the needs of 
all families, including those in rural and underserved communities. In 
fact, this data can help support the provisions I authored in H.R. 2, 
the Moving Forward Act, to support expansion of CPST training for 
underserved populations.
  Highway Safety Offices can tailor state marketing campaigns that 
address child passenger safety and include information about the 
highest forms of car seat misuse in their state. Further, available 
data will lend insight into trends and patterns regarding misuse of car 
seats and vehicle compatibility. This information has the potential to 
influence engineering and design of car seats and vehicles and 
subsequently increase safety for vehicle occupants.
  The NDCF has been in development for almost four years through an 
iterative process involving diverse representation from the field of 
child passenger safety. As of September 20, 2020, 2,743 CPSTs have 
created NDCF user accounts and more than 31,000 car seat check forms 
have been submitted to the system. Every state in the United States has 
registered CPSTs and has submitted data to this NDCF. The NDCF is also 
in use in the territories and regions covered by the Indian Health 
Services.
  The hope is to have the opportunity for the NDCF to improve the 
safety of our children. Data that can identify areas of need, recurring 
fault mechanisms, lack of understanding on installation, and other 
problems lead to reforms for everyone using car seats. These 
improvements will save children's lives.
  It is fitting that during Child Passenger Safety week I recognize 
this major step forward in improving national CPS. I encourage my 
colleagues to recognize the hard work of CPSTs in their communities who 
give their time and talent for their labor of love--keeping children 
safe.

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