Here at Training and Technical Assistance Services at Western Kentucky University, our goal is to connect program leaders and staff with information and resources which support quality improvement and compliance in the provision of early childhood education services. In pursuit of that goal, T/TAS is working with The National Child Passenger Safety Board (NCPSB) to develop and promote training and certification opportunities in child passenger safety. NCPSB was created to train people to become certified child passenger safety (CPS) technicians and instructors in order to provide assistance to families and caregivers for the safe transportation of children. As a new NCPSB Board Member, I will be sharing the latest updates, resources, and training opportunities in child passenger safety. Whether your program services include transportation by school bus or private passenger transportation (i.e. family), education and certification activities with staff keep children safe by providing necessary information and resources to support safe transportation practices by all families and providers. One of the latest updates is an air bag recall affecting millions of Americans. Review the following message from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to determine if your families are impacted by this air bag recall.

Takata air bag recall—how does CPS fit in?

As you may have heard, Takata air bags installed in millions of U.S. vehicles are subject to recall due to a safety defect that may cause their inflators to explode and cause serious injuries or deaths. Some of the affected vehicles have received the necessary repair, but there are still a large number that have not—and some of them have been shown to have an even greater risk. In fact, there are currently about 300,000 vehicles at heightened risk for an air bag inflator rupture on our roadways. Most of these vehicles are 2001-2003 Hondas and Acuras. Research shows that the affected models have as high as a 50% chance of an air bag rupture when deployed.

Numerous partners have been working with NHTSA to ensure that owners of the affected vehicles receive the critical repair needed to protect them from additional harm in a crash—and we are asking the CPS community for your help, too.

Please click HERE for more information, including a list of the most high-risk vehicles. If you are at a seat check and see one of them, please ask the family if they have been notified of a recall and taken care of it. Drivers of these vehicles should immediately visit NHTSA.gov to check whether their vehicle has any outstanding safety recalls. Those that do should contact their nearest dealer to schedule a no-cost immediate repair. Replacement parts for these vehicles are available immediately.

For more information, please contact NHTSA’s Office of Communications and Consumer Information at kil-jae.hong@dot.gov. Thank you for being watchful during your seat checks, and for helping to ensure that all members of the family stay as safe as possible in a crash.

I am looking foward to sharing more child passenger safety news and resources with Head Start, Early Head Start and other child care providers this year!

Krystal Heinzen, J.D.
T/TAS Management Specialist

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Training & Technical Assistance Services (T/TAS)
Western Kentucky University
800-882-7482
www.ttas.org
ttas.info@wku.edu