Buckle Up Yurok

Do you wear your seat belt and make sure all passengers in your vehicle are belted or in a child restraint system every time you drive?  Did you know motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional injury and death for American Indians ages 1 to 44, according to the Center for Disease

Control & Prevention.  Adult motor vehicle-related death rates for American Indians are more than twice that of other races. You may be asking yourself why this occurs, but studies show that American Indians residing on reservations have a low seat belt and child restraint use rate. 

The California Rural Indian Health Board, together with the Yurok Tribal Police Department, received a  four year grant titled “Buckle Up Yurok”, (2010-2014), through the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention to implement effective strategies to address the issue of low seat belt and child restraint use on the Yurok Reservation. These strategies to reduce motor vehicle crash-related injuries and deaths are well established, and include enforcement of occupant restraint laws with high visibility by law enforcement, community education, use of media, and data gathering. 

A coalition has been formed and will work with local community and Tribal government officials, the Yurok volunteer fire department, tribal clinic staff, and other public health officials to plan effective strategies to increase seat belt and car seat use among the Yurok population. These effective strategies will be tailored to meet the specific needs of the Yurok Tribe.   

The Yurok Tribal police, a Head Start teacher, and one Public Health Nurse, received Child Passenger Safety Technician training/certification on July 25-29, 2011 at the Yurok Tribal Office in Klamath and hosted a car seat event following the training on Friday July 29^th at Pem Mey fuel mart.  At this event, 18 car seats were distributed to families in need and 6 car seats were correctly fitted into the vehicles. To learn more about this program or future car seat events, please contact Barbara Hart at (916) 929-9761 and please remember to always buckle up!

Download Files In PDF Format

  Buckle Up Yurok Brochure

 Injuries Among American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN): CDC Activities