Studies Find Limited Booster Usage By African-American & Latino Parents

    Surveys Reveal High Levels of Child Safety Seat Awareness for Younger
          Children, But Lower Booster Seat Usage for Older Children

    GARDENA, Calif., March 5 Surveys of 400 African-American
and 400 Latino drivers conducted on behalf of Nissan's Quest For Safety child
safety seat program, found that parents and caregivers report high levels of
car seat awareness and usage for younger children, but report much lower
levels of booster seat awareness and usage for older children.

    According to the African-American survey:

    *  Approximately 87 percent of African-American parents are aware of
       booster seats, however, only 16 percent use the booster seats when
       transporting children between four to eight years of age.

    *  Approximately 53 percent of African-American parents did not know
       booster seats should be used when a child is too small for a vehicle's
       seat belt, but too big for a child safety seat.

    According to the Latino survey:

    *  Approximately 58 percent of Latino parents with children aged four to
       eight are aware of booster seats, however, only 13 percent use the
       booster seats when transporting children between four to eight years of
       age.

    *  Approximately 68 percent of Latino parents who do not use booster seats
       secure the child using both the vehicle's lap belt and shoulder
       harness.

    Booster seats are meant for children who are approximately 40-80 pounds
and have outgrown their child safety seats, but are still too small to
properly use the vehicle's seat belt alone.  Some of the reasons cited by
these minority parents for not utilizing booster seats include:

    *  Lack of knowledge about what a booster seat is.

    *  Lack of understanding of current law requirements.

    *  Uncertainty about which booster seat to purchase.

    *  Confusion about the proper use and installation of the booster seat.

    "Clearly, the findings indicate a need for consumer education and outreach
to minority communities regarding booster seats," said Robert Yakushi,
Nissan's corporate manager, automotive safety engineering.  "African-American
and Latino parents are aware of passenger vehicle safety for their young
children, as evidenced by the high percentage of infant and child safety seat
use.  But, despite the awareness of booster seats, a large percentage of
drivers said they don't routinely use booster seats for their older children."

    According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and injury for children
within the first year of life.  Statistics show that each year, 1,700 children
die and 300,000 are seriously injured in motor vehicle crashes, and six out of
ten children killed in crashes were completely unrestrained.

    Statistics from NHTSA also show that traffic accidents are the number one
killer of African-American children.  Among children aged five to 12, occupant
death rates for African-Americans were almost three times those of Caucasians.
Hispanic children under the age of four have the second highest highway death
rate after African-American children.  The death rate for Hispanic children
age five to 12 is 43 percent lower than the rate for African-American children
in the same age group, but 72 percent greater than the rate for white
children.

    "Nissan created our 'Quest For Safety' program to help educate parents and
caregivers about proper child safety while driving," Yakushi added.  "The
findings released today confirm we -- and other safety organizations -- should
focus additional efforts on the issue of booster seats for older children."

    Other survey findings include:

    *  Approximately 69 percent of African-American parents own or regularly
       use child or infant safety seats.

    *  Approximately 33 percent of African-American parents and
       approximately 39 percent of Latino parents prematurely graduate their
       children to a forward facing seat though they should remain in a rear-
       facing seat until they are at least 20 pounds and one year old.

    *  Reasons Latino parents cited for not using infant seats are they "don't
       know which one to buy" or they "prefer to use infant carrier."

    *  Reasons Latino parents cited for not using child safety seats are "the
       child doesn't like it" and it "takes up too much space."

    Nissan's Quest For Safety program is conducted in partnership with the
authors of the best selling What To Expect(TM) parenting books.  During the
past four years, Nissan has distributed more than one million booklets
entitled "The What To Expect 5 Steps To Car Seat Safety" to parents and
caregivers nationwide, and has released a series of radio public service
announcements to encourage proper safety and booster seat use.  The What To
Expect Foundation provides education, support and information to low income
families about healthy pregnancies, safe deliveries and safe babies.