Knowledge and understanding of basic child passenger safety - proper use and installation of child car and booster seats - is the most effective tool for preventing the injury or death of a child in a car crash.
The child safety passenger program, jointly run by the British Columbia Automobile Association's Road Safety Foundation and the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, is now offering the child passenger safety basic course online at childseatinfo.ca.
"It is our hope that at the completion of this online course, individuals will have the information needed to enable them to select and use a child car seat correctly," Marg Deibert, senior child passenger safety program educator for the foundation, said in a press release.
The child passenger safety basic online course is the first online child passenger safety course to be offered in B.C. and aligns with the CPS program mandate to increase education about proper child car and booster seat use, as well as B.C.'s laws and regulations.
This online course is a valuable tool for people who transport children as part of their work, such as social workers, daycare workers, settlement workers and healthcare workers who want a solid understanding of child passenger safety basics, but do not wish to become a certified CPS educator.
The course is also beneficial for parents, grandparents and other caregivers who transport children.
Until they are one years old, children must be in a rear-facing car seat in B.C. The foundation recommends that they stay in rear-facing seats as long as possible before moving into the appropriate seat for their weight and size.
In B.C., all drivers are responsible for transporting all children in age-and weight-appropriate child car or booster seats until their ninth birthday or they reach 145 centimeters in height.
Car crashes are one of the leading causes of accidental death among children in this province.
According to the foundation's website, an average of 1,400 children under the age of nine are injured, and four are killed, in motor vehicle crashes annually. Seatbelts and child car seats are the most effective tools in preventing injuries and death.
For more information or to register for the online course, visit childseatinfo.ca or call 1-877-247-5551.
