Presidential Documents

6443

Federal Register

Vol. 62, No. 29

Wednesday, February 12, 1997

Title 3—

The President

Proclamation 6972 of February 8, 1997

National Child Passenger Safety Week, 1997

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Children are our Nation’s most precious gift, and one of our most profound

responsibilities is protecting their health, well-being, and safety. Nowhere

is this duty more critical than on America’s streets and highways.

Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for America’s young

people. It is tragic that a high proportion of these deaths could be prevented,

but are not. For example, we know that seat belts save lives—last year

they prevented the deaths of almost 10,000 Americans—and, yet, many

still fail to wear them.

I encourage all Americans to take a few simple steps to ensure that their

families travel safely. The most important rule is also the simplest: The

safest place for children is the back seat. Also, parents and guardians must

always make sure that children are secured, either in a locked seat belt

or in an appropriate child safety seat.

I commend the Department of Transportation for its ‘‘Patterns for Life’’

program, begun in 1996 to focus attention on correct child safety seat use

and the proper positioning of children and their safety seats away from

air bags. Working through national safety organizations and State public

safety and highway offices, this program offers a network of qualified child

passenger safety trainers to provide communities with the valuable resources

they need to reduce motor vehicle-related deaths and injuries.

Laws exist in every State and the District of Columbia that require proper

restraints for younger children. However, 40 percent of our children under

five are still not properly restrained. We must do better to enforce the

existing laws and protect our precious cargo.

The steps we take now will make our roads safer and our children more

secure. My Administration is striving to increase the use of seat belts throughout the Nation. We are also working with automobile makers, car dealers,

private organizations, and insurance companies to teach parents how to

install child safety seats properly, and new technologies will eventually

make air bags safer for children.
6444 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 29 / Wednesday, February 12, 1997 / Presidential Documents

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution

and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 9 through

February 15, 1997, as National Child Passenger Safety Week. I urge all

Americans to help reduce injuries and the tragic loss of life on our highways

by buckling up every child in an approved restraint, in the vehicle’s back

seat. And let us all help spread these important child safety messages

throughout our communities. By doing so, we can save many young lives.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day

of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven,

and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred

[FR Doc. 97–3677

Filed 2–11–97; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

and twenty-first.

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