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Nadine Wimmer reportingPolice officers and highway patrol troopers won't limit their scrutiny to drivers and seatbelts this weekend. They also want drivers to properly restrain children in car and booster seats. That message doesn't always get through to one group.
Rosa Almarez got a new car seat at a neighborhood car seat clinic. Of the two dozen moms who arrived, two had the car seats they needed to safely transport their children. "Sometimes it's the price, sometimes people don't care," Almarez said.
Her answer illustrates a cultural divide that frustrates child safety advocates. It's not that moms in her situation don't care about their children, car seats just aren't on their radar.
Janet Brooks, with Primary Children's Medical Center, said, "In some cultures, a car seat has never been seen. So they may not know of the importance of that car seat."
National Highway Traffic Safety research shows Hispanic children are 72 percent more likely to be killed in a crash than non-Hispanic children, and that more than half of Hispanic and Latino children are not restrained in car seats.
Mary Romo said, "The biggest frustration is people have to go to funerals to bury their children when it was totally unnecessary. That's heartbreaking for us."
Just this week, one such tragedy struck a family who crashed in Provo Canyon. Two young children, who investigators say weren't wearing seatbelts, were ejected and died.
Advocates know they need to reach these families and try bilingual messages in English classes. They provide low-cost or free car seats and installation at strategically-located clinics.
Advocates say word of mouth seems to be their most effective resource among Hispanic moms, but organizers say every community should reinforce this message, because it truly is a life-and-death situation.
