WESTFIELD, Ind. — Charlie Vits of safety system supplier IMMI has been appointed to the National Child Passenger Safety Board.

Vits is a market development manager for IMMI, which produces SafeGuard seating and restraints for school buses. On the National Child Passenger Safety Board, he will serve as an at-large representative for a three-year term, from January 2017 to 2019.

The board, which is managed by the National Safety Council, oversees and maintains the curriculum that is part of the National Child Passenger Safety Certification Training Program.

“We are excited for Charlie to join the National CPS Board and lend his experience in school transportation for advancing the mission of saving lives and preventing injuries,” said Amy Artuso, the board’s secretariat and a program manager at the National Safety Council.

Vits played a significant role in developing school bus seats with lap-shoulder belts as well as add-on, portable restraints for school buses. He has contributed to the writing of industry training materials, such as the previous and current versions of the Child Passenger Safety Restraint Systems on School Buses National Training and the Safe Ride News School Bus Safety Handbook.

In 2010, the Automotive Safety Program at Riley Hospital awarded Vits the 14th annual Child Safety Advocate Award for his work with passenger safety on school buses.

“My involvement in the application of child passenger safety in school transportation has been especially rewarding because of the great need within the industry for proper understanding and training,” Vits said. “Most important, I can reflect on the fact that the work I have been involved in has made a difference in the protection of many of our youngest traveling students.”