I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 784
To save lives and prevent injuries to children in motor vehicles through
improved national, State, and local child passenger protection program
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 13, 1997
Mrs. MORELLA (for herself, Mr. HOYER, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr. FROST, and
Mr. GONZALEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To save lives and prevent injuries to children in motor vehi-
cles through improved national, State, and local child
passenger protection program
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Passenger Pro-
tection Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Annually the losses in the United States
from motor vehicle collisions is estimated to be over
800 deaths and over 80,000 injuries to children
through the age of 4.
(2) Properly used child restraints in motor vehi-
cles can reduce the chance of serious or fatal injury
in a motor vehicle collision by 69 percent for infants
and 47 percent for toddlers through the age of 4.
(3) Some of the most common seating position
designs that have emerged in motor vehicles during
the last decade make secure installation of child re-
straints difficult and, in some circumstances, impos-
sible.
(4) Results from regional child restraint clinics
have shown that 70 to 90 percent of child restraints
are improperly installed or otherwise misused largely
due to the complication and wide variation of seat
belt and child restraint designs.
(5) There is an immediate need to expand the
availability of national, State, and local child re-
straint education programs and supporting resources
and materials to help agencies and associated orga-
nizations to carry out effective public education in
child restraints.
SEC. 3. CHILD PASSENGER EDUCATION.
(a) AWARDS.—The Secretary may enter into con-
tracts or cooperative agreements with, and may make
grants to, State highway offices and other experienced
child passenger safety organizations to obtain and distrib-
ute national, State, and local child restraint education pro-
grams and supporting educational materials.
(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds provided under a con-
tract, cooperative agreement, or grant under subsection
(a) shall be used to implement child restraint programs
which are designed to prevent deaths and injuries to chil-
dren through the age of 4 and which—
(1) educate the public in all aspects of proper
installation of child restraints using standard seat
belt hardware, supplemental hardware and modifica-
tion devices where needed, and special installation
techniques;
(2) educate the public in appropriate child re-
straint design selection and placement and in har-
ness threading and harness adjustment; and
(3) train and retrain child passenger safety pro-
fessionals, police officers, fire and emergency medi-
cal personnel, and other educators in all aspects of
child restraint use.
(c) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—An entity which re-
ceives funds under a contract, cooperative agreement, or
grant under subsection (a) shall in carrying out subsection
(b)—