The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a manual to increase seat-belt and child restraint (car seat) use across the globe. Here in Canada seat-belt compliance is quite good, especially compared to the rates in low and middle-income countries. However, we can still strive for improvements as seat-belt use is strongly linked to reduced injuries and fatalities on the road. There is also a strong link between the proper use of child restraints and reduced injury. Many injury prevention and road safety practitioners are focused on improving the rate and the correct use of car seats in Canada, and this manual contains important information in that regard.
The manual contains the following modules:
- The need for seat-belts and child restraints
- How to assess the situation in a particular country
- How to plan and manage a seat-belt program
- How to develop and implement interventions
- How to evaluate the program
The full manual is available on the WHO website.