Car Seat Safety - Child Passengers

In 2016, the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office reported that more than 9,000 children in Oklahoma 12 years of age and younger were involved in motor vehicle crashes. Twenty-two children died, and 574 were seriously injured. Only half of the 22 children who died were restrained at the time of the crash.

Unfortunately, three out of four (3/4) child safety seats are used incorrectly.

Child passenger safety is the means and practice of preventing injury and death of children in the event of a motor vehicle crash. Both nationally and in Oklahoma, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children. Proper child restraint use decreases the risk of death by 71% for infants younger than one year old and 54% for toddlers 1-4 years old. For many parents, providing proper child restraint systems for their children is often difficult due to financial hardship

Since 2001, the Injury Prevention Service, Oklahoma Highway Safety Office, and Safe Kids Oklahoma have worked together to implement a car/booster seat program statewide through county health departments. Families may contact a county health department to schedule an appointment to have any car or booster seat checked to determine if it is properly installed. Eligible families may receive car/booster seats. 

There are trained child passenger safety staff located statewide who conduct child car seat checks free of charge. Some of these agencies or organizations also provide a limited number of car seats or booster seats at discounted prices or at no cost to families eligible for WIC benefits or who receive other state assistance such as Medicaid, SNAP or TANF.

• Rack Card - Child Passenger Safety “Protect Your Precious Cargo” (Bilingual version)
• Pamphlet - Child Passenger Safety Guide - Know the Law (Spanish version)
• Poster - Oklahoma's Child Passenger Safety Law - Ages and Stages (Spanish version)
• Infographic - Know the Law - Protect your Children (Spanish version)

Get more information on Child Passenger Safety and finding the right safety seat for your child. Get Child Passenger Safety information in Spanish.

Learn about common child safety seat misuse and installation errors. Get safety seat installation error information in Spanish.

Mailing Address:
Oklahoma State Department of Health
Injury Prevention Service
123 Robert S. Kerr. Ave Suite 1702
Oklahoma City, OK 73102-6406

Physical Address:
Oklahoma State Department of Health
Injury Prevention Service
123 Robert S. Kerr. Ave
Oklahoma City, OK

Telephone: (405) 426-8440
Fax: (405) 900-7588