COUNTYWIDE : Group to Raise Funds to Buy Car Seats

Orange County is one of the target areas for a new nationwide fund-raising campaign to provide child car seats to families that cannot afford them.

Organizers of Operation Baby Buckle, a program of the Ronald E. McNair Foundation in Atlanta, hope to raise $1.5 million by 1997 to buy 100,000 car seats.

Locally, the group would like to buy hundreds of safety seats to distribute to low-income families through area hospitals, such as Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

“We saw the epidemic of infant deaths in car accidents as an area where a lot could be done to help, so we’ve committed ourselves to do that,” program spokesman Len Pagano said. All money raised in Orange County will be spent on seats for local families, he said.

More than 70,000 children in the United States are hurt or killed each year in auto accidents, according to Safety Belt Safe USA, an Altadena-based clearinghouse for information on car safety. In California last year, 59 children under the age of 4 were killed because they were not in a safety seat or buckled in correctly.

Strapping children into a seat incorrectly can negate the benefits of safety seats, so Operation Baby Buckle is also mounting an education program to ensure parents know how to use the equipment.

Amy Dale, program manager for the Orange County Health Care Agency’s injury prevention program, said parents too often make the mistake of not using a safety seat for short trips.

“For an unrestrained child, the force of a car crash at 30 m.p.h., which is not that fast, is equivalent to a fall from a three-story building,” Dale said. “That’s something people need to keep in mind. It’s worth a minute to make sure everything is done correctly.”

State law mandates that children under age 4 or weighing less than 40 pounds be secured in a seat while in a car. But Dale said many parents cannot afford the seats, which typically cost $25 to $200.

“But these seats are certainly, indisputably valuable,” she said, citing a report that says more than 71% of child deaths in auto accidents could likely have been prevented if the child was properly strapped into a seat.

A report last August on Orange County childhood injury showed that car accidents were among the chief causes of injury-related death for area youngsters, accounting for 51% of fatalities.

To help the local Operation Baby Buckle campaign, call the regional offices of Primerica Financial Services at (714) 257-0792 in Brea, or (714) 938-0440 in Orange. Primerica is the primary sponsor of the program, pledging $250,000 this year.

Organizations or businesses interested in participating should call the Operation Baby Buckle offices at the Ronald E. McNair Foundation, (404) 497-6166.

Other county organizations also work to provide seats and safety education to drivers with small children. Buckle Up Orange County has education efforts and car seat giveaways, while the Orange County Trauma Society has loan programs and short-term rental offers. For more information on these efforts, call Dale at (714) 834-5728.