MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- New-car dealers nationwide will raise public awareness of child passenger safety by hosting child safety seat inspection events during October as part of Booster Seat Safety Month, sponsored by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA).

"As dealers, we are in a good position to deliver life-saving messages firsthand to parents, and that's what we'll be doing this month when we focus on child passenger safety in communities from coast to coast," said NADA Chairman Charley Smith.

Participating auto dealers will offer parents free child seat safety inspections by certified experts, as well as booster seat safety information to take away.

This unprecedented national awareness campaign, called "Boost for Safety," kicked off with a special child safety seat event at a dealership near Houston, Texas, on September 23. Nearly 500 people attended and seats were inspected in 113 vehicles -- a record for the inspectors from the SAFE KIDS of Greater Houston organization.

The campaign is part of a partnership between NADA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to promote child passenger safety.

At a press conference last week, NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey Runge said, "Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children between four and eight years old. This campaign will raise awareness of the life- saving benefits of child booster seats."

Booster seats are the focus of the campaign because research shows awareness is lowest among parents of older, booster-aged children. However, child seats for babies and toddlers will also be inspected at dealership events.

NHTSA and other transportation safety research shows the vast majority of parents are not aware that their older children, aged four-to-eight and weighing 40-to-80 pounds, should be secured in boosters. Recent surveys show that only an estimated 15 percent of booster-aged children are properly belted. Approximately 17 million booster-aged children are at risk unnecessarily because they are not properly restrained in a booster seat.

The National Automobile Dealers Association, founded in 1917 and based in McLean, VA, represents approximately 20,000 franchised new car and truck dealers holding nearly 43,000 separate franchises, both domestic and international.