Ford Grants States $1 Million to Boost Child Passenger Safety

    DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 6 Ford Motor Company announced today
that it will award more than $1 million in assistance to groups in 40 states
and Washington, D.C. to improve child passenger safety.  The local support is
part of the company's national Boost America! campaign to increase the
awareness and proper use of booster seats and child safety seats-one of the
largest child safety efforts ever by an automaker.

    The grants are being announced to help mark National C
hild Passenger Safety Week, which is held February 11-17, 2001.

    According to government statistics, few children over the age of three
ride with the protection of a booster seat and safety belt.  This contributes
to the fact that more than 500 children ages 4 to 8 are killed in car crashes
every year.  Boost America! is intended to change that by making sure that the
message that all children weighing 40-80 pounds (roughly ages 4 to 8) should
ride on a booster seat is heard loud and clear all across the country.

    The nation's leading highway safety and child welfare organizations are
part of the Boost America! campaign to ensure that a variety of communications
resources are used to reach children, their parents and caregivers.

    Ford Motor Company and the International Center for Injury Prevention
(ICIP) reviewed more than 120 applications before deciding on the 22 states
that will be receiving the awards announced today.  In addition, in December
Ford announced the award of 15,000 booster seats total to 43 Native American
tribes in 18 states.  The applications were evaluated and ranked according to
factors such as:  current level of programming and sustainability, uniqueness
of proposal and impact of Boost America! assistance on the program.  Other
factors like involvement with health agencies and ability to reach minority
and rural populations were also taken into account.

    ICIP, a Boost America! safety partner, will work with the states to
conduct child passenger safety training classes, distribute booster seats and
help implement local programs.

    "Central to our strategy will be local people working in their communities
to host child passenger safety technician certification courses and working
closely with minority communities to establish permanent child seat and
booster seat fitting stations," said ICIP Executive Director Elaine Kizewski.

    Leading safety advocates agree that children who have outgrown traditional
child safety seats designed for infants and toddlers need to use a booster
seat until they are big enough physically to transition to the adult lap and
shoulder belts.  Booster seats are easy to use and, as the name suggests,
raise the child up in the seat so adult safety belts fit them better and more
comfortably -- low across the hips and pelvis, and with the shoulder belt
across the chest.

    "The key to educating parents and children alike about the need for
boosters seats is to reach them through familiar, local communications
channels," said Kizewski.  "We must make it convenient for families to attend
clinics to learn about how to use booster seats and child seats correctly, and
answer their questions.  Ford's resources will make it easier to get the job
done."

    In addition to the state grant program, Ford's Boost America! campaign
will include a massive education effort reaching out to pre-school and
elementary schools, as well as the distribution of one million booster seats
over a year long period.
    

    State     Agency/Organization                   Award

    AL    Alabama SAFE Kids/                 Training, Booster Seats
            SE Child Safety Institute
    AK    Alaska Injury Prevention           Booster Seats
            Center - Anchorage
    AR    Arkansas, Safe Jonesboro           Training, Booster Seats
            Safe Communities
    CA    California Department of Health    Educational School Programs
    DC    Fire and Rescue                    Training
    GA    Georgia Governor's Office of       Training, Supplies
            Highway Safety
    HI    Waimanalo Coast Health Center      Booster Seats
    ID    Panhandle Health District          Training, Child Seats
    IN    Riley Hospital for Children        Training
    IA    Iowa Dept. of Public Health        Training
    IL    Illinois Department of             Training
            Transportation
    LA    Acadania Safety Association,       Training, Child Seats
            Lafayette
    ME    Maine Department of                Booster Seats, Child Seats
            Human Services
    MA    Massachusetts Highway              Training, Child Seats
            Safety Office
    MI    Michigan Office of                 Training
            Highway Safety
    MN    Minnesota Office of                Booster Seats, Child Seats
            Traffic Safety
    NY    New York Department of Health      Training
    OK    Oklahoma Highway Safety            Booster Seats
    OR    Oregon Alliance for                Training, Booster Seats
            Community Traffic Safety
    TX    Texas U/Southern Texas             Training
            Injury Prevention
    VT    Vermont Governor's Office of       Booster Seats, Child Seats
            Highway Safety
    WA    Washington Safety                  Booster Seats
            Restraint Coalition
    WI    Vernon Memorial Hospital           Child Seats, Booster Seats,
                                               Supplies

    *     Various Native American            Booster Seats
            tribes nationwide

    *     An award of 15,000 booster seats
          total to 43 tribes in 18 states
          was announced on December 6, 2000