    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [February 15, 1997]
    [Pages 160-161]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    February 15, 1997

        Good morning. Today I'm pleased to announce a major new step in our
    efforts to protect America's children: a universal system for attaching
    child safety seats in cars. This system, developed by a blue ribbon
    commission of industry and consumer groups, will make safety seats
    easier to install and more secure on the road. It will save young lives.
        In my State of the Union Address, I issued a call to action to all
    Americans to prepare our people for the 21st century. Building strong
    families is central to that mission. That's why we must do all that we
    can to help parents do all they can to live up to one of the greatest
    responsibilities anyone can have, to care for a child.
        Parents are always on the lookout to make sure their children are
    safe. That's especially true when you get in the car. Thousands of
    children are killed in car accidents every year; tens of thousands more
    are injured.
        Even though America's cars and roads are the safest in the world, we
    must make them safer. That's why today, the final day of National Child
    Passenger Safety Week, I'd like to talk with you about the steps we're
    taking to save more lives on the road.
        First, we will continue to stress the fundamental rules of safety:
    seatbelts, safety seats for small children, children 12 and under
    buckled up and in the back seat. Last month, I instructed the outgoing
    Transportation Secretary, Federico Pena, to develop a plan to get more
    Americans to wear seatbelts. I'm delighted to be joined today by our new
    Transportation Secretary, Rodney Slater, who came to us from the Federal
    Highway Administration. He knows a lot about this issue, and he will
    present that plan to me in March. When he does, I will be ready to
    review it and act on it.
        We must also continue to support law enforcement in its effort to
    increase compliance with safety laws.
        Second, we have taken action to make it clear that on America's
    roads there is no room for alcohol or drugs. We fought to make it
    illegal for all young people under 21 to drive with any alcohol in their
    blood, and 34 States now have these zero-tolerance laws. We're also
    developing a plan to make teens pass a drug test as a condition of
    getting a driver's license.
        Third, we've worked to make air bags, one of our most important
    safety tools, safer for children. All cars and safety seats now come
    with warning labels to remind drivers to keep children in the back seat.
    Plans are underway to permit manufacturers to install less powerful air
    bags and to phase in a new generation of ``smart'' air bags. Air bags
    have saved a lot of lives. With these improvements, they'll save even
    more.
        And today we're taking a fourth step: We will make child safety
    seats safer. These seats are the most effective safety device to protect
    very young children. In car crashes, they reduce the risk of death or
    serious injury to infants by 70 percent. They cut the fatality and
    injury rate for children aged 1 to 4 in half. But while all 50 States
    have car seat laws, studies show that 40 percent of the time young
    children do not even ride in safety seats, and even when they are placed
    in child safety seats, 80 percent

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    of the time children are either not fully secured or the car seats are
    not properly attached.
        The fact is, despite parents' best efforts, car seats are hard to
    install. Not all 100 models of car seats fit in all 900 models of
    passenger cars. And even when they do, it's no simple task to put them
    in place. Seat belts are not designed primarily to hold child safety
    seats. Anyone who's wrestled with a car seat knows what I'm talking
    about. Thousands of frustrated parents have called our Transportation
    Department hotline with questions about how to use car seats properly.
        Parents are not alone in their concerns. Automobile and car seat
    makers, consumer organizations, the medical community all have felt
    there was too much confusion surrounding child seat safety. In response
    to this problem, my administration convened a blue ribbon panel, with
    representatives from all these groups, to find ways to make it easier
    for parents to protect their children with safe, secure car seats.
        Today I am pleased that we are acting on the panel's number one
    proposal, a universal system for attaching car safety seats. Under a
    Transportation Department plan, every car safety seat would have two
    standard buckles at its base. Every car would be equipped with standard
    latches in the back seat designed specifically to fasten to these
    buckles. There would also be universal attachments to secure the top of
    the safety seat to the car's interior, so car seats would be locked in
    from top to bottom. This plan will go out for public comment next week.
    If approved, the new safety system could be on the market by 1999.
        A car seat can protect a child from the violence of the worst
    crashes. So today we are acting to solve a problem that's been around
    for too long. We're taking steps to make sure that your child's car seat
    will stay put in your car every time. With this plan, we're moving
    closer to the day when safe, well-attached car seats will be the rule of
    the road.
        Together, these efforts represent a new spirit of cooperation in
    America, with industry and Government working with the American people
    to support our families as they seek to make life safer and better for
    our children.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 2:09 p.m. on February 14 in the Oval
    Office at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on February 15.