Campaigns

National Child Passenger Safety Week 2009 is September 12th - 18th
Through education, training, and community outreach, the Virginia Department of Health promotes proper safety seat restraint use for children from birth until they transition into a vehicle safety belt. While great progress has been achieved in recent years in preventing child occupant deaths and injuries, and increasing the correct use of child safety seats, booster seats and safety belts, motor vehicle crashes are still the leading cause of death among children.

Ways to participate:

• National Seat Check Saturday will be held on Saturday, September 12th. This Saturday will host dozens of child safety seat checks around the state. Check the Calendar of Events for locations and details. Can't wait for an event? Visit a permanent fit station any time of the year.
• Download VDH's Child Passenger Safety Toolkit that features printable fact sheets, tips, activity ideas and much more. Print and use throughout the year!
• Order FREE child passenger safety materials to distribute in your community.
  Order online OR Print order form to fax or mail
  
  
The first 200 evaluations from the Child Passenger Safety Toolkit returned will receive a FREE gift!

Buckle Up Challenge Project

The Virginia Department of Health is proud to sponsor Buckle Up Challenge. Anytime is a perfect time to remind students about the importance of buckling up! The Buckle Up Challenge is a service learning project that engages students and "drives home" the importance of wearing seatbelts while driving or riding in a vehicle! It is our hope that with the help of the Buckle Up Challenge toolkit, your student leaders will succeed in increasing seatbelt usage at your school!

This student-led project consists of an observational baseline survey at the beginning of the week to determine seatbelt usage rates; an education campaign promoting seatbelt usage; and a second survey at the end of the week to determine if the seat belt usage rates increased. The students will then summarize and report the results to the Virginia Department of Health's Division of Injury and Violence Prevention. The school with a usage rate of 85% or higher will receive an award. The students working on the project will also receive a Leadership Award.