Safety Advocates Reinforce Back Seat Message to Parents as New Air Bag Technology Rule Takes Effect

8/26/2003

From: John Chambers, 202-338-8700, 202-285-0448 (cell), for the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign

News Advisory:

New Data: Rear Seat Placement Saves Thousands of Children's Lives

On the eve of a new standard taking effect that mandates 20 percent of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. be equipped with advanced air bag technology, the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign in partnership with several child safety advocates will gather at the National Transportation Safety Board to release new data on the life saving benefits of rear seat placement and to reinforce the message that -- old air bag, new air bag, no air bag, kids are safer in the back seat properly restrained.

The movement of children to the rear seat has been credited with helping to dramatically reduce the number of child fatalities in traffic crashes. Yet recent data indicate that an alarming number of parents are still putting their children in the front seat.

WHAT:

-- New Analysis: Rear seat placement saves thousands of lives

-- Alert parents to the life saving benefits of placing children in a rear seat

WHEN: 10 a.m., Wednesday, August 27, 2003

WHO:

-- Ellen G. Engleman, chairman, National Transportation Safety Board

-- Chuck Hurley, vice president of transportation at the National Safety Council and executive director of the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign

-- Sue Ferguson, senior vice president for research, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

-- Karen Farnsworth, director of child passenger safety, National SAFE KIDS Campaign

-- Dr. Elizabeth Edgerton, representative, American Academy of Pediatrics

WHERE:

National Transportation Safety Board, 490 L'Enfant Plaza E, SW, SR1, Washington, DC 20594