Passenger Safety

Traffic Safety Initiatives

AAA Public Affairs works to keep our members informed about all issues related to driver safety. These include road rage, distracted driving, sharing the road with big trucks, dangers of drinking and driving, safety belts, air bags, seasonal driving tips, and much more.

Some of our annual initiatives include:

• Old, Used, Borrowed and Abused Safety Seat Roundup - February
• Buckle Up America! - May
• School's Open, Drive Carefully - September
• Halloween Safety - October
• 3D Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Campaign - December
• Get It Together - October-February
• Dare to Prepare
• Keeping the Keys
• Tow to Go - October 31, 2009-January 3, 2010

Child Passenger Safety

Unsure about which safety seat is right for your child? Having trouble securing the safety seat tightly in your vehicle? Wondering when it is safe to put your child in a vehicle safety belt? Our AAA Traffic Safety department can answer these and other related questions. Trained technicians at the AAA Tidewater Corporate Center in Virginia Beach conduct free child safety seat checks year round. We will check to make sure your child's car seat is installed safely and correctly, or we'll install it for you. This service is available Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please call 757 233-3889 to make an appointment.

Installing Child Safety Seats

Child safety seats are required by law in every state because they provide the best protection for infants and young children. However, correctly installing a child safety seat can be challenging, especially with the wide variety of restraint systems, vehicle belt systems, and passenger vehicles available on the market today. The following link provides demonstrations of proper seat installation showing pictures and descriptions of correct seat installs. Also provided are pictures and descriptions of incorrect seat installations to show what not to do.

Installing Child Safety Seats

Child Restraint Recalls

It is very important to pay attention to recall notices and for parents to check if their seats are safe to use or if they need to be repaired or replaced. Recalls can be issued for any failure to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213 established and enforced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Many of the recalls issued are due to reasons related to the crashworthiness of the child restraint. Some recalls are for deviations from the standards relating to labeling requirements, flammability of the upholstery or padding, or for parts that may come loose and pose a choking hazard.

Child restraints are required to have a label indicating the seat's manufacturer, model information, and date of manufacture. If the label is missing on your seat, contact the manufacturer to see if the seat can be identified through other information. Models manufactured before 1981 were not required to be crash tested and should definitely be destroyed. Seats should not be used if the model name, number, and date of manufacture cannot be determined. In addition, most child passenger safety advocates recommend that seats older than ten years old should be replaced by a new one.

In cases where the manufacturer has gone out of business or discontinued replacement programs, you are advised to destroy the seat and use another one. Do not throw unsafe seats in the trash where they can be picked up and used by others. Discarded seats should be destroyed by having them crushed. At the least, they should be taken apart and stripped of upholstery, padding and straps to prevent others from using them.

To report any suspected child restraint or vehicle safety defects, call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Auto Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236.

Child Restraint Recall List

The Old, Used, Borrowed and Abused Child Safety Seat Roundup!

Watch the video below to learn more

Find Out How Well Your Car "Fits" You

CarFit is a free program, developed by AAA and partners - the American Society of Aging, AARP and the American Occupational Therapy Association Inc. to help active older drivers determine how well they and their vehicle work together, a simple process that can help you to drive safely as long as possible. This program meets the challenge of understanding the factors that can affect our driving and make it more challenging. Some factors include age, vision, flexibility, strength, range of motion and even our size and height changes. AAA knows that being a safe driver is important to you and the more you understand how to adjust to these changes, the more comfortable you will be on the road.

For more information, please contact AAA Traffic Safety at 757 233-3889 or via e-mail at publicaffairs@aaatidewaterva.com.

For information on any aspect of passenger safety for children and adults, please contact us at 757 233-3889 or e-mail us at publicaffairs@aaatidewaterva.com. Or visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website at http://www.nhtsa.com. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia website, http://www.chop.edu is also a great resource for child passenger safety tips.