Overview

Officially launched on 6 February 2009, the fourth in this series of good practice manuals, jointly prepared by the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society, the Global Road Safety Partnership, the World Bank and WHO, focuses on seat-belts and child restraints. The launch event was held in Costa Rica in the presence of the country’s Transport Minister, Karla Gonzalez; former Formula One driver, Michael Schumacher; and Make Roads Safe Campaign Ambassador, Michelle Yeoh.

Failure to use a seat-belt is a major risk factor for road traffic deaths and injuries among vehicle occupants. Passengers who are not wearing seat-belts at the time of a collision account for the majority of occupant road traffic fatalities.

The manual is a practical guide to implementing, enforcing and evaluating seat-belt and child restraint programmes, and consists of a series of 'how to' modules. It provides evidence of why the use of seat-belts and child restraints is important and takes the users through the steps needed to assess the situation in their own countries. It then explains the steps needed to design, plan and implement a seat-belt and child restraint programme. Finally, the manual guides users on how to monitor and evaluate such programmes so that the results can be fed back into programme design. For each of these activities, the document outlines in a practical way the various steps that need to be taken.