A north Idaho non-profit is getting help to bring its message about child passenger safety to rural communities in the Inland Northwest.
Brian Rauscher and his colleagues at Safe Start of Coeur d’Alene sometimes climb in Rauscher’s truck, rent a U-Haul trailer and take child car seats to small town events. They occasionally give seats to families that can’t afford them and then show parents how to put them in.
“If we look at our misuse rates across the country, they really tell us that about 80% of car seats, there’s something wrong with that install," he said. "So we train families to use it properly, we fit the kids properly and then, if they’re not able to afford a safe seat, they leave our encounter with a brand new safe seat, thanks to our partners.”
Those partners include Cincinnati-based Buckle Up for Life, which has given Safe Start a new truck and trailer for road trips, says the organization’s program manager, Patrick Edmunds.
“We are celebrating the launch of their rural education outreach program to go out and meet families where they are so that nobody lives too far away from the help they need to get assistance with car seats and buckling up properly," he said.
Rauscher says Safe Start gave away about 360 car seats and 200 cribs during its small town visits last year. He says it plans to go to at least 26 communities in eastern Washington, north and central Idaho and western Montana during the next year.
