Press Release

American Car Renters Announce Air Bag Safety Awareness Campaign

11/27/96

ACRA Says Child Auto Safety Is As Simple As ABC Free Brochure and
Window Reminder Available To Raise Awareness of Passenger Safety

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 -- The American Car Rental
Association (ACRA) has teamed up with Morton International, an airbag
manufacturer, to help spread the important safety message of "Always
Buckle Children in the Backseat."

There is definitely a need to make drivers more aware of safety
precautions when traveling with young children.  According to a
national survey conducted by Morton, most respondents were either
uninformed or unsure of proper child passenger safety precautions. Its
research also showed that drivers need the facts to take a few simple
but important steps that can prevent injuries to children when they
travel.

ACRA offers the following safety precautions drivers can take when
traveling with young children:

  
 Always Buckle Children in the backseat.
  
 Buckle up every child in the vehicle properly--and buckle up
yourself too.
  
 Young children and infants should always be in child safety seats
appropriate to their age and size, and held in place by properly
secured safety belts.
  
 Never secure rear-facing infant seats in the front of a vehicle
with a front passenger-side airbag.

Most ACRA-member car rental companies feature current- or late model
vehicles in their rental fleets, many of which are equipped with
driver and passenger airbags.

"Every day, hundreds of thousands of adults and families with children
travel in rental vehicles for vacations and when their own personal
vehicles are unavailable," stated Jan Armstrong, executive director of
the American Car Rental Association. "We hope that all drivers follow
these simple steps to help ensure the safety of their young
passengers," she added.

Information about passenger safety, along with some simple safety
reminders, is now available in a free brochure from the American Car
Rental Association, developed by Morton International. The brochure
also includes a sticker that consumers can place on the front
windshield of their personal vehicle as a reminder of the "ABCs" of
child passenger safety. A free copy of the brochure can be obtained
from ACRA by sending a self- addressed stamped envelope to: ABC
Program, P.O. Box 4361, Lisle, IL, 60532.

In addition, the following organizations will assist in this safety
awareness program by distributing materials to their members and the
public: Optimists International, through a grant from Morton; The
American Medical Association; Emergency Nurses Association/Emergency
Nurses CARE; the International Association of Chiefs of Police; the
Grand Lodge Fraternal Order of Police; the National Safety Council;
and the National Association of Governors Highway Safety
Representatives.

The American Car Rental Association represents most major car rental
companies in the U.S. ACRA member companies operate more than 1.4
million newer and current-model vehicles at over 12 thousand locations
in all 50 states. Morton International is a Chicago-based manufacturer
and marketer of specialty chemicals, automotive inflatable restraint
systems and salt.