Volume 2, Number 3 - March/April 1999

In 1988, adult seat belt use in the Navajo Nation stood at 8 percent. The motor vehicle fatality rate was five times higher than that of the general population. Twelve percent of those involved in crashes were ejected from their vehicles. To improve this situation, the Navajos are using a potent combination of partners and interventions.

First among these partners is the Navajo Nation Council, which, in 1988, passed a seat belt and child occupant protection law and created the Navajo Nation Community Traffic Safety Program (CTSP). CTSP, in conjunction with the Indian Health Service and other groups, used the time between the passing of the law and the date it went into effect (1990) to educate the community. Seat belt use increased even before the law took effect and gained additional momentum in 1991 when the Tribal Police Department intensified its enforcement. By the end of 1998, adult seat belt use among the Navajo people stood at 80 percent. The motor vehicle fatality rate dropped by 52 percent between 1988 and 1994.

CTSP activities include seat belt roadblocks, child safety seat checkpoints, and public education using traditional Navajo motifs. Lawrence Garnanez of the Navajo Nation Department of Highway Safety reported, "We meet with people at gatherings and talk about the dangers of not using seat belts or child safety seats. We teach in the Navajo language and show people how a baby must fit in a seat and how a seat must fit into a car." Each month, the CTSP loans between 100 and 175 seats, provided by the Indian Health Service, to families who cannot afford to buy them.

The Navajo Nation's efforts to improve traffic safety received an Administrator's Highway Safety Program Award of Excellence, presented to Lawrence Garnanez by NHTSA Administrator Dr. Ricardo Martinez at the 1996 Native American Lifesavers conference.

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