Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2014

If you’ve ever seen a young child standing up in the back of a car, head and arms out the window, and wondered, “Why is that child not in a car seat?” you’ll be pleased to hear that a campaign is soon to get underway to educate the public on the importance of car seats and seatbelt safety.

K-A International Mothers in Japan (http://kajapan.org/), along with Seatbelt100percent (www.facebook.com/seatbelt100percent), a call-to-action Facebook page, are banding together to spread the good word: a properly buckled child has a much greater chance at surviving an accident—upward of 60-70 percent—than an unbuckled child.

Starting things off is a poster contest designed to get kids on board and excited about car safety. One poster from each age group (0-5, 6-9, 10-15) will be chosen, with a grand prize winner being chosen from the three. The grand-prize-winning poster will be used as an official Car Seat Awareness campaign poster for the duration of the campaign.

Winning posters will be unveiled on Seatbelt100percent and K-A International Mothers in Japan’s Facebook pages mid-August (exact date TBA). Winners will be contacted via Facebook.