Booster Seat Education

Sponsor Organization:  U.S. Department of Transportation/ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Campaign Website:  www.safercar.gov
Volunteer Agency:  The Richards Group

Children prematurely moved to seat belts are 4 times more likely to suffer serious head injuries during a collision than children in child safety or booster seats. Safety belts are designed for adults, and children under 4'9" tall should ride with a booster seat.

The booster seat message is a crucial one, NHTSA estimates that up to 90% of children in the U.S. who should be using a booster seat are not.  The goal of this campaign is to educate parents of children who have outgrown their child safety seat that a booster seat is a life-saving transition to an adult safety belt.

The campaign produced PSAs with Disney, featuring Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother, that were released in October 2005. The Booster Seat Education campaign launched in February 2004 and is a spin-off of the Safety Belt Education campaign.

Safety Belt Education Campaign

The Safety Belt Education campaign began in 1985 and starred the always entertaining, but often injured, Crash Test Dummies.  The Dummies, Vince and Larry, have been enjoying retirement since 1999. 

Between the campaign launch in 1985 and 2003, seat belt usage increased from 14% to 75%, saving an estimated 85,000 lives.  To read more about the Safety Belt Education campaign, please visit the Historic Campaigns section.