The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in cooperation with several national safety and health organizations and state highway safety offices, developed the Patterns for Life initiative to improve the health status of children up to 14 years old by reducing the number of children killed and injured each year in traffic-related crashes. The goal of the program is to implement child restraint, pedestrian, bicycle, and school bus safety programs that teach children safety habits to use for the rest of their lives, and to provide local communities with the resources to form lasting partnerships to accomplish this goal.

The Patterns for Life Initiative Includes:

The initial work of the Patterns for Life initiative concentrated on the issue of child passengers safety. To that end, the following products are nearing completion.

Child Passenger Safety Training Program
Promoting child passenger safety is one of the most important missions of NHTSA. There are many different occupational groups and individuals involved in child passenger safety programs and activities across the country: law enforcement, medical professionals, safety advocates, public health officials, and others, to name just a few. To effectively handle their responsibilities in this area, these groups and individuals require up-to-date training and materials.

A standardized training course has been developed and targets advocates aspiring to become technically competent enough to participate in and/or conduct child safety seat clinics and advocates wanting to teach the course to others. The 4-day course includes lectures, discussions of new issues, and hands-on practice with both safety seats and vehicle belt systems. Attendance and successful completion of this course are primary criteria for certification in child passenger safety.

Targeted training is currently available for law enforcement officers through Operation Kids and fire and rescue personnel through Buckle Up Kids. Additionally, a new course has recently been developed for child care providers. These courses ensure increased awareness about child transportation issues for these special audiences. Instructors of the Operation Kids training have attended the NHTSA standardized course, enabling them to provide the most up-to-date technical information available.

Child Transportation Program and Training Database
A database has been developed which includes information on the training, expertise, and/or certification of individuals and organizations active in child transportation safety. The database will also contain information on a variety of NHTSA�s programs in occupant protection and bicycle, pedestrian, and school bus safety.

Product and Material Development
To meet the critical need of providing accurate and up-to-date information, NHTSA developed the Is This Child on the Road to Danger? Child Transportation Safety Materials Review and Evaluation Tool. This publication gives advocates the necessary �tools� to evaluate their materials and assist with the development of new materials.

A revised and renamed Child Transportation Safety Resource Manual includes the latest child passenger safety information, as well as information on pedestrian, bicycle and school bus safety issues.

In 1997, pedestrian, bicycle, and school bus safety were incorporated into the Patterns for Life initiative. Besides the Child Transportation Safety Resource Manual (discussed above), several other products are in progress:

• Bicycle Safety �How to� Guide will provide sports franchises, communities and local organizations, strategies for developing partnerships to implement comprehensive bicycle safety events within communities.

• Pedestrian Safety Program for Hispanic Children will address pedestrian safety risks for children and is targeted to parents and adult caregivers of children.

• Expanded Safety Tips is a new series of �Tip� Sheets being prepared to provide parents, caregivers, and health care and other professionals with the latest age-related information on child pedestrian, bicycle, and school bus safety. In addition, Safe Rides News will produce informational inserts on each of these topics.

Be on the lookout for these items and other updated training materials and activities dedicated to improving child transportation safety.