Injuries sustained in car crashes are the leading cause of death for children and young adults. It's very sad and frustrating because so many crash injuries are preventable.  That's why a new child passenger safety awareness campaign "See Me Safe"  is promoting the proper use of safety restraints in cars for children. The program, a collaboration between the Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services and Meharry Medical College, launches in Miami this week.

"See Me Safe" reaches out to parents and caregivers with booster seat age children. The educational component of this campaign stresses the need for prevention in our community and teaches parents how to properly restrain small children in car safety seats. The program also distributes a number of child passenger safety seats and booster seats to low income families.

This compliments our "Buckle Up for Life" program, a partnership between Injury Free Coalition for Kids, The Children's Trust and Miami-Dade County. A few years ago, when we launched "Buckle Up", the Miami-Dade Police Department and 35 municipal police departments have trained more than 1,400 police officers in child passenger safety; more than a 1,000 children whose families who could not afford vehicle safety seats have been safely placed in car seats or boosters; and more than 500 families have completed injury prevention classes.  In addition, nearly 200 child care providers have completed a four-hour training course to spread safety practices even further throughout our County.

We are working to make our community a safer place all its children and families.