Debbi Baer

It's sad, almost pathetic, that in spite of all our technology and sophistication car crashes are the leading cause of death and injury to children in the U.S. Frustrated by this, Debbi became involved in what was then – in the early 1980’s – a grassroots movement to raise public awareness about the availability and importance of car seats.

Debbi was instrumental in getting Maryland’s car seat law passed in the early 80’s requiring children to ride in car safety seats. Her courses, both to those in the field and those outside – parents, doctors, nurses, police, firefighters, and more – educated thousands about the lifesaving potential of a car seat. Fifteen years ago she established a permanent fitting station on her driveway in Maryland –7 days a week, 365 days a year parents come (by appointment only) with their vehicles, car seats, and children to learn how to properly install the car seat and secure the child in the harness.

Debbi is a renowned national expert in the field of child passenger safety and has extensive experience helping children with special needs ride safely and securely in vehicles. She has appeared in countless local TV programs, radio spots, newspaper articles, and other media advocating for and educating about safe travel for children. Through her dedication and passion, Debbi has established herself as a fixture in the Baltimore community and is known affectionately as “the car seat lady.”

While looking back it seems inevitable that Debbi’s oldest daughter, Alisa, would follow in her mother’s footsteps, as a young child becoming the “car seat lady” like her mother was the last thing Alisa envisioned. Having the “car seat lady” as your mom meant not being able to take a family walk without stopping at least once to let an unsuspecting parent know that their car seat was improperly installed – and then taking 20 minutes to help them fix the seat. It meant everyone at school knowing that you rode in a booster until you were 8 and a half (if you think few 8 year olds ride in boosters today, despite state laws requiring such, think about how few were in the late 1980’s). It meant flashing a two-sided sign at the unbelted motorist stopped next to you (as you slunk down embarrassedly in your seat, waiting for the red light to change to green) – one side asking them to “please buckle up”, the other side thanking them if they complied. It meant that your mother cared about others in a way that a young child can’t fully grasp.

Alisa’s earliest involvement was as a young teenager when she would come outside to entertain the children as her mother taught their now undistracted parents how to use their carseats. Required to do a month-long, 40 hour/week internship during her senior year of high-school, Alisa chose to work in the postpartum unit of a Baltimore hospital where she taught all the new parents how to properly install their car seats. After that experience, she “was bitten by the bug.” When she moved to New York that fall to begin her undergraduate work at Columbia University, she brought her expertise with her.

Understanding the inestimable power of community education in affecting meaningful change, she employs numerous modalities in her outreach. She educated parents through lectures at new-mom groups, synagogue and church groups, and parents of twins clubs, to name a few. For eight years Alisa ran a fitting station in NYC for the past eight years. This unique opportunity allowed her to impact the lives of many children as she has installed more than 5,000 car seats. Through her numerous media appearances – TV (MSNBC and FOX News), radio (1010WINS segment), print (The New Yorker, NY Daily News, NY Post, US Weekly), and websites (Autobytel.com) - a large number of people nationwide became privy to this life-saving information. Realizing that pediatricians are a trusted source of information to new parents, she teaches pediatric residents the basics of car seat safety, so they can educate their own patients.

The epidemiological research Alisa conducted on parental knowledge about and attitudes towards booster seats culminated in a publication in a professional journal in addition to a presentation at a national conference. As a certified instructor for both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 32-hour car seat course and a separate 2-day course on car seat safety for children with special needs, she has educated nurses, doctors, social workers, police, firemen, and many other community members about car seat safety so that they can provide information and services through their professional roles. This website, dedicated to providing accurate, up-to-date information along with how-to videos to anyone worldwide is a dream of Alisa’s that has now come to fruition.

Alisa recently graduated (May 2006) from NYU Medical School and is now living in Philadelphia where she is a pediatric resident at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). While she will most certainly educate parents about the importance of childhood vaccines, she will continue to raise awareness about perhaps the most important childhood vaccine of all – the car seat. She will also become a member of the Partners for Child Passenger Safety research team and will participate in any way she can given the confines of an 80-hour work week.

Emily Levine

Emily never expected to become involved in the car seat world. Best friends with Alisa since elementary school, Emily was "tormented" by Debbi's safety consiousness whenever she spent time with Alisa's family (which was a lot). But Emily also got the benefit of being exposed to car seat safety from a very young age due to this friendship. Emily accompanied Debbi and Alisa to seat checks throughout her middle school and high school years. She finally stopped teasing Alisa about using a booster seat around the time Alisa got her driver's license.

Emily and the Baer family parted ways when high school ended and Emily moved to Massachusetts to attend Wellesley College. After graduation, she moved to New York, renewed her friendship with Alisa and grew interested in Alisa's fledgling business. When Alisa realized she would soon move away from New York, she knew she needed a replacement, and she trusted Emily to continue her work with the passion and dedication it requires. Balancing a full time job at the Conference for Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and finishing a Masters Degree at NYU  continue to take up much of Emily's time, but she has been able to prioritize another role for herself as the newest "car seat lady."

For nearly a year Emily apprenticed with Alisa on weekends and on weeknights after work. She had hundreds of hours of hands-on experience under Alisa's careful instruction. In May 2006, Emily received her national certification as a Child Passenger Safety Technician and now operates a fitting station in New York.  Since she received her certification she has installed hundreds of seats for New York families.  She plans to conduct community outreach in New York, having already redesigned and expanded thecarseatlady.com website, which now instructs a worldwide audience on the importance of child passenger safety.