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Published on 12/06/07

Georgia traffic safety program gets $948,400 grant

By Andrew Turnage
University of Georgia

The University of Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute was recently awarded a $948,400 grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to provide education to reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities statewide.

“This program is the primary resource in the state for public information and professional training on the use of safety belts, child safety seats and safer teen driving,” said Don Bower, a UGA Cooperative Extension human development specialist and professor in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences. Bower is the GTIPI director.

GTIPI was established in 1986. It now has programs in the use of safety belts, child safety seats and teen driving. A new program for mature drivers called CarFit will be explored this year.

The program reaches virtually every Georgian with media information encouraging the correct and consistent use of car safety devices. In 2007, educators in the program conducted 281 child safety seat checks and provided more than 18,000 hours of training, helping to increase child safety seat use by Georgians to 89 percent.

For more information, call GTIPI toll free at (800) 342-9819 or visit the Web page www.ridesafegeorgia.org.

Andrew Turnage is the public information manager of the Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute of the University of Georgia.

Experts/Sources:
Don W. Bower
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