New Survey: Parents Report Placing Millions of Kids in Front Seat Although Back Seat is Safer; Hundreds Died in Front Seat in 2002 2/11/2004
From: John Chambers for the National Safety Council, 202-338-8700; 202-285-0448 (cell) News Advisory: -- Safety Campaign Announces National Partnership To Get More Kids in Back On Wednesday, Feb. 11, the National Safety Council's Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign will release results of a new national survey which shows that parents of millions of children ages 0-12 report that they place their kids in the front seat, putting them at greater risk of serious injury or death. The survey also found that lower-income, less-educated, and Hispanic and African American families are more likely to place children in the front seat. The Campaign, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) strongly recommend that children 12 and under ride properly restrained in rear seats. That includes infants in rear-facing seats, children in convertible seats, children in booster seats, and children restrained by seat belts. Research has found that rear seats are up to 35 percent safer. A recent study by the Campaign found that the lives of more than 1,700 children have been saved between 1996 and 2001 solely because they were sitting in a rear seat. WHAT: -- New Survey: Millions Of Parents Report Placing Kids In Front Seat; Hispanic and African American Children More Likely To Be Placed In The Front Seat -- New Fatality Data Analysis; Hundreds of Children Die In Front Seat Annually -- New Partnership Announcement: Campaign Aligns With National WIC Association (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) to reach at-risk families. -- Alert Parents - Kids Are Safer In A Rear Seat. -- Child Safety Seat Demonstration By The Metropolitan Police Department WHO: -- Ellen Engleman Conners 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 -- Rev. Douglas Greenaway, Executive Director, National WIC Association -- Lyda Vanegas, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care. (WIC Clinic) WHERE: The Mary's Center (Conference Room) 1711 Kalorama Road, Washington, DC 20009, 202-483-8319 WHEN: 10:00 a.m., WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11 |