ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 1996 TAG: 9604170044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
STATE LAW REQUIRES that children younger than 4, regardless of weight, be properly secured in a child-safety seat.
``Please Be Seated" was founded five years ago to educate people about Virginia's child-safety law and proper use of child-safety seats in motor vehicles.
The program relies on driver participation. Motorists who notice children riding unrestrained can fill out a mail-in post card giving the license number and description of the vehicle, where the incident occurred and what the motorist observed.
"We thought we'd be lucky if we got five to 10 cards a week," said Karen Kern, "Please Be Seated" coordinator.
Five to 10 cards a week, 52 weeks each of the program's five years - at most, that would be 2,600 cards.
The reality? 40,000.
"We had no idea we would get that many," Kern said. "We quickly had to find money for printing more cards."
The response shows public concern for a safety issue observed too often on Virginia's roads, streets and highways, Kern said.
"It's an issue that really bothers a lot of people," she said. "But they get really frustrated that they can't do anything about it."
State law requires children younger than 4 to be properly secured in a child-safety seat, regardless of weight. Initially, the law applied to children who weighed up to 40 pounds. The law was amended in 1992, removing the weight restriction and substituting it with the age-4 restriction.
"We still get a number of calls from people who are still thinking '40 pounds,''' Kern said. "It was a hard law to enforce. Officers didn't carry a scale with them in vehicles."
The most common violation observed, according to the mail-in cards, is people driving with children in their laps, Kern said.
"But we get all sorts of things," she said.
Consider these comments:
"Child was in car seat but seat was unsecured in the bed of a pick-up."
"Mother was breast-feeding her baby while driving."
"Baby was in snugglie strapped to passenger."
The program is strictly an educational one. The "Please Be Seated" office - in the Department of Health's Division of Child and Adolescent Health - sends a friendly letter to the owner of the vehicle involved in the incident to remind the owner about the child-safety law in Virginia.
It goes on to inform the recipient how to get a free child-safety seat if he cannot afford one.
The idea for "Please Be Seated" was conceived by Roanoke lawyer Kenneth Ries. He suggested the program after reading a newspaper article about a program to help control litter in which people who observed others littering could mail in cards giving the license number of the offender.
"When I first saw the article telling people that cards were available to turn in litter violators, my first thought was 'What a good idea,''' Ries said. "I drive all over Virginia and have seen children unrestrained. So my second thought was 'Wouldn't it be a great idea to do the same thing for those children? Can't we do for our children what we do for our trash?'''
Months after making his suggestion, Ries received a letter from the Department of Motor Vehicles, informing him that his idea had resulted in "Please Be Seated."
"I'm very pleased and gratified that a state government program, which was meant to protect children from harm, appears to be working," he said.
The effect of the program - funded with federal dollars administered by DMV - is difficult to determine, Kern said. But in the program's first year, the number of requests to DMV for free child-safety seats rose from 4,148 to 7,855, she said.
Requests have been rising ever since, peaking in 1992 at 15,903 then dropping to 12,000 last year because of budget constraints.
"We can't say that was due to 'Please Be Seated,''' Kern said. "You can't really attribute the increase to one program, because there are so many variables. But I'm sure [`Please Be Seated'] had something to do with it."
``Please Be Seated" cards are available at Department of Motor Vehicle branch offices, American Automobile Association offices, Cooperative Extension agencies, pediatricians' offices and many law enforcement agencies. For information, call (800)732-8333 or write PLEASE BE SEATED Program, Commonwealth of Virginia, P.O. Box 1172, Richmond, Va. 23286-0172.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. Two-year-old Rebekah Washington helpsby CNBher mother, Janet, with the buckle on her child-safety seat Tuesday
afternoon at the Tree House After School at Hollins Road Baptist
Church on Old Mountain Road. color.