Texans In Motion

2317 Riddle Road
Austin, Texas 78748
Telephone: 512-291-9844
shelly@texansinmotion.net
leslie@texansinmotion.net
(a non-profit 501(C)(3)

OUR MISSION is to increase child passenger restraint use and reduce the number of deaths and injuries to children in motor vehicle crashes through educational programs, activities and check up events.

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Not Buckling Up? Is It Worth The Risk?
Law Enforcement and Education Working to Keep Young Texans Traveling Safe

AUSTIN, TX – Child Safety Advocates, Educators and Law Enforcement officers are working together to educate drivers on the importance of properly restraining all vehicle occupants, adults and children. The Roll-Over Convincer simulates roll-over crashes in which an adult and a child occupant rides first properly unrestrained with either a vehicle safety belt on in a child safety seat. The simulation provides a graphic visual of the consequences of not buckling up...

Progress

Effective September 1, 2009, Texas requires all children under age 8 to ride in a federally approved car seat or booster seat, unless the child is 4’9” or taller. If a child is over age 8 but under 4’9” tall, a booster is still recommended.

Child Safety Seats Save Lives!

Two hundred eight-nine Texas children under age 15 died in motor vehicle crashes; 69 of those were under the age of six; of those 40% were unrestrained in 2004. Research on the effectiveness of child safety seats use showed they reduce fatal injury by 71% for infants (under one year of age) and by 54% for toddlers between one and four years of age...

In Texas, from 2000-2002 over 1,500 children between the ages of four and eight were hospitalized due to motor vehicle crashes, only 3.5% were in child safety seats. Even drivers complying with the law may be putting their children at risk for injury by incorrectly using child safety seats or by prematurely using vehicle seat belts to restrain children. Prematurely using seatbelts, instead of a booster seat, can result in life threatening injuries to the head, neck, spine, or injuries to abdominal are know as “seat belt syndrome,” in which internal organs are compressed and severely injured.

Rural Counties more at Risk

Many rural counties, in Texas have lower restraint usage and twice the fatalities of urban areas, due to ejections during crashes. Rollovers most often occur with SUV’s and pick-up trucks. Of the nations MVC fatalities 68% of the SUV and 79% of the truck occupants were unrestrained. This low use trend is reflected in 10 rural Austin area counties surveyed by Texans In Motion in January 2006.

The KISS Project

Texans In Motion has teamed up with area safety advocates, law enforcement, schools, child care groups, businesses and the Texas Department of Transportation to educate drivers and passengers of all ages to using the proper restraint system every time they get in a motor vehicle through their Kids In Safety Seats (KISS) Project.
In addition to education the project assists parents and other caregivers by providing child safety seats to children in need during child safety seat events.

Download a KISS Flyer

Download a Summary of Activities