TITLE
A Resolution of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Designating May 19, 2007, as “Child Passenger Safety Day” in Allegheny County.
BODY
WHEREAS, motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for children between three and fourteen years of age in the United States; and
WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control, 221,196 child passengers were injured and 990 child passengers were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2004; and
WHEREAS, the findings from an on-going study called “Partners for Child Passenger Safety” (PCPS), a partnership which involves The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, State Farm Insurance Companies and the University of Pennsylvania, found that 64% of children between four and eight years of age are incorrectly restrained; and
WHEREAS, Safe Kids Coalition found that 73% of child car seats are not installed or used correctly; and
WHEREAS, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania only 48% of children age four to eight years are correctly restrained in booster seats; and
WHEREAS, the PCPS study is a scientific and systematic approach that seeks to determine how and why children are being killed or injured in motor vehicle crashes; and
WHEREAS, PCPS has created a database containing more than 455,000 crashes involving 669,000 children, representing the largest source of data on children involved in motor vehicle crashes; and
WHEREAS, PCPS is the first academic-corporate partnership devoted to the safety of children in motor vehicles whose methodology combines in-depth telephone interviews, on-site crash investigations and computer crash simulations with interdisciplinary analysis and interpretation; and
WHEREAS, PCPS findings are published regularly in leading medical and engineering journals and presented at scientific conferences, and PCPS outreach to the automotive and restraint community, policymakers, legislators, public health educators and the media has improved child occupant safety; and
WHEREAS, The goal of PCPS is to share the information about how people can do a better job or protecting their children; and
WHEREAS, “Child Passenger Safety Day” turns research into action and is an excellent opportunity for parents to put their minds as east by having a trained technician check their children's car seats and booster seats and provide potentially lifesaving information; and
WHEREAS, to spread the word of child passenger safety and how parents and guardians can better protect their children, State Farm Insurance Companies have scheduled 37 free child safety seat checkpoints across this Commonwealth in 2007, in partnership with organizations such as the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Team Educators for Child Safety (TECHS), the Tri State Foundation for Safety and Education the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and Safe Kids of Allegheny County to provide free car seat checks to decrease childhood morbidity;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby resolves as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Council of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, hereby designates May 19, 2007, as “Child Passenger Safety Day” in Allegheny County.
SECTION 2.
If any provision of this Resolution shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Resolution which shall be in full force and effect.
SECTION 3.
Any Resolution or Ordinance or part thereof conflicting with the provisions of this Resolution is hereby repealed so far as the same affects this Resolution.