My name is Bonnie Smith and I am a Safe2Go and Child Passenger Safety Technician.

Shortly after attending a Safe2Go course in mid 2006 I developed the website "Child Restraint Safety" on a free hosting website in June of 2006. It was started fore mostly as a hobby, something to keep me occupied but also with the hope of teaching others about the many facets of child passenger safety. Soon after, in August 2006 with hosting assistance from web-wide-hosting.co.nz, www.childrestraintsafety.com was "born".

I am now in my third year of my Safe2Go certification having recertified on the 28th of March 2008. Safe2Go is a joint initiative that was formed in 2002 between Land Transport NZ and ACC, who fund 19 Safe2Go trainers throughout New Zealand to train 'technicians' in the correct installation and use of child restraints.  I am due to recertify early 2009.

I also hold a current U.S certification as a Child Passenger Safety Technician. The Child Passenger Safety certification was earned through training received only in the United States specifically pertaining to child restraints and child passenger safety. This certification was completed mid June 2007 and is valid for two years. To my knowledge, I'm the only CPST in New Zealand.

The certifying body of the Child Passenger Safety course is SAFE KIDS.  The National Standardized Child Passenger Safety Training Program certifies individuals as child passenger safety technicians and instructors. Tens of thousands of individuals have been certified since the program began in the US in 1997. The Child Passenger Safety course combines classroom instruction, hands-on work with car seats and vehicles, and a community safety seat check up event where student technicians are to demonstrate proper use and installation of child restraints and safety belts and then teach these skills to parents.

It was a great experience meeting all the other Child Passenger Safety trainees,  police officers, CPS instructors and their trainees. They were a great bunch of people and I will never forget them or their faces or the kindness of them all! It was hard being the only Kiwi (not to mention "foreigner"!) there, but they made me feel so welcome! One day I hope to return to Hawaii and complete instructor candidacy and be able to instruct in New Zealand.

Apart from earning both the Safe2Go and Child Passenger Safety certification,  I also regularly work alongside health organisations and the Police doing compliance surveying, car seat checking clinics and police check stops. It's a great amount of fun and a great learning experience working with these people and helping others and I thoroughly enjoy it.

I have spent hundreds of hours developing this website (as well as collating and researching new information) and endeavour to make all the information I provide as accurate as possible. However, because I myself am still learning something new about child restraints almost every day, I cannot always know everything but do try my best with the information I have at hand. If you ever have any queries about child restraints and I am unsure of the answer, I will try my best to find the information for you from other sources, just ask.

Some people ponder or question why I do what I do, and why I go to so much effort. In short, I want to make a difference. I want to help parents and caregivers and I want to help educate others because I recognise there is A LOT to learn about child safety seats, more then you'd ever think there was and certainly more than I ever thought there was. I also believe having an "independant" person or source that is unbiased and has no ulterior motive is invaluable to parents. 

As a first time parent I found it extremely difficult to find accurate and comprehensive information from a reliable source on child restraints in New Zealand, information from overseas isn't always relevant here in Aotearoa! Anything I did find out from friends, web sites and baby stores all seemed to contradict each other. I was very naive and uneducated on not only the benefits of child restraints, but the dangers of using an improperly installed, older or second hand car seat.

I feel that there is little consistency in the information parents and caregivers are being given and this is why I have developed this website. Although I now have two children and have learnt a lot more about child passenger safety along the way, I can still sympathise with the feeling of being "in the dark."  I believe we all have something to learn no matter how many or how few children we have, how young or old we are and whether we consider ourselves educated or not. People from all walks of life have something to learn about child passenger safety.

I am often asked whether or not I get paid for all the work I do. Just to clear up any confusion or queries - No, I do not get paid by any businesses or organisations for building and maintaining this website. No, I do not receive any financial or material incentives from companies or child restraint manufacturers. No, I am not affiliated with nor do I endorse any child safety seat manufacturer and No, I do not sell car seats. Because I am not influenced or financially motivated by other car seat manufacturers/retailers, this helps to keep information as much impartial and unbiased as humanly possible.

I think it's really important for people to NEVER think of car seats as "baby seats." Car seats should always be thought of as an "extension" of the car, used to keep your child as safe as possible. Cars are built for adults, NOT children, which is why we need to use car seats for them until they are big enough to go without.

My hope is that by educating as many people as possible about child restraint safety, their great benefits and how to correctly use them, that we can further lower the rate of deaths and injuries among children in motor vehicle accidents. It is also my hope that all the information I provide highlights to both parents and the community that child restraints are more than 'just a bit of plastic'.

I would also like to take the time to thank everyone that has supported myself and my website for getting the word out there, I am forever indebted to you. Without all the parents, most of whom I don't even personally know and without my supportive and encouraging friends and famiy I certainly would not have been able to achieve everything and help as many people as I have to date. So... THANK YOU! 

I hope you find this website informative and I hope this information helps you to keep your children safer. Don't forget "make it click!".