21/12/2017

Promoting Child Seat Use Nationwide

Through the implementation of training sessions for traffic police officers and check up points providing free advice on the correct instalation of CRS (child seats and/or booster seats) in private vehicles, the Fundación promoted child safety in five different provinces: Canelones, Colonia, Maldonado, Salto, and San José.

Nine training sessions to traffic police officers and municipality staff were implemented in 2017. Ninety nine percent of the 323 people trained in Child Passenger Safety stated they found it useful, and 61% showed interest in furthering their knowledge according to an anonymous satisfaction survey designed at the end of the course.

During the same period 10 Check Up Point were implemented in the provinces, providing advice on the installation of more than 170 CRSs. The objective is to decentralize, in the medium term, the Check Up Point currently provided at the Automobile Club of Uruguay headquarters.

At national level only 23% of children under 12 years travel in a child restraint system; the percentage of use is even lower, 3.2%, for children aged between 6 - 12 years old.

It is through this type of activities that the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez, the National Insurance Bank, and the provincial governments aim to raise awareness and improve child transportation through a more effective enforcement.