Georgia: Safety commissioner lauds child car seat program

DALTON, Ga. — Teaching how to protect children who ride in a car is better than fining drivers who don’t, according to Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John Oxendine.

On Wednesday, he introduced a pilot program that does just.

Meeting with justice, safety and law enforcement officials at the American Red Cross offices here, Mr. Oxendine said the pilot program would give an option to motorists ticketed for having no child car seat, an inadequate car seat or an improperly installed child safety restraint. They could pay a fine, or attend a class on car seat safety.

“When it comes to car seats, it’s not a matter of raising revenue or writing tickets. It’s a matter of changing behavior and keeping children safe,” he said.

Camilla, a small town in southwestern Georgia, already has a fine or training course program. Mr. Oxendine said because Whitfield County has a large population of rural and urban residents, it will be a better test area for the program.

“This is something that could be replicated in Macon, Atlanta, Columbus, Savannah and all over Georgia,” he said.

Retta Gavin, an emergency medical technician and director of Safe Kids of Dalton, would be heavily involved in the a car seat training course. She said the program would be fairly inexpensive and easy to implement.

“I think it’s a great idea if we can get everyone to buy in on the project,” Mrs. Gavin said. “We’ll end up helping everyone, including EMS. If the kids are restrained properly during an accident, there’s going to be less injuries.”

There is no timetable to start the project, but Mr. Oxendine reported local authorities were in favor of giving it a try.

Dalton Police Department spokesman Bruce Frazier said the effort is worthy.

“The idea is to educate people so you don’t get people that pay their fine and then don’t get a car seat or get their car seat fixed,” Mr. Frazier said.