---

Americans Want A Law Requiring Children to Ride in Back Seat

8 October 1997

Americans Want A Law Requiring Children to Ride in Back Seat According to National Survey by Farmers Insurance

    LOS ANGELES, Oct. 8 -- A new national survey reveals
Americans would support a law requiring children 12 years and younger to ride
in the back seat of a car for safety reasons.
    According to the survey, conducted by Farmers Insurance Group, 76% of the
respondents would support the law being recommended by The National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), while 22% would not.
    Approximately 1,400 children, ages 14 and under, die each year in motor
vehicle accidents.  Another 269,000 are injured.  The safest place for all
children in a car is the back seat according to The National Transportation
Safety Board.
    "Most people understand the importance of buckling their children in the
back seat, but our study shows that less than half of those surveyed
consistently do this," says Diane Tasaka, director of corporate communications
for Farmers Insurance Group.  "Parents need to realize that this simple action
will greatly reduce the extent of injury to their child should an accident
occur."
    Additionally, only 35 percent of respondents always ask caregivers, such
as grandparents, baby-sitters and friends to put their children in the back
seat when driving them.
    "Even conscientious parents may be placing their children at risk
because they don't ask baby-sitters or grandparents to put their children in
the back seat," adds Tasaka.

    Additional survey results:
    -- Although 76 percent of respondents would support the law, only
       44 percent of respondents transporting children 12 years and younger
       require them to ride in the back seat.  37.5 percent sometimes or never
       require them to ride in the back seat.

    -- The main reason motorists don't always require children to ride in the
       backseat: they feel the children are old enough to ride up front (36
       percent).

    -- Women (81.5 percent) are more likely than men (70.5 percent) to support
       the law.

    -- Women (47.9 percent) are more likely than men (40 percent) to require
       children to sit in the back seat.

    Parents can reduce the risk of injury to their children by: never placing
a rear-facing infant seat in the front seat; properly restraining non-infants
in a forward facing car seat or booster seat and requiring everyone regardless
of age, to wear their seat belts.
    Parents should also teach their children to insist on sitting in the back
seat when riding with others.
    The national survey was conducted with a sample of 1,000 consumers
nationwide and has a margin of error of +/- 3%.
    The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent Federal agency
charged with investigating accidents and issuing safety recommendations aimed
at preventing future accidents.
     Farmers Insurance Group is the nation's fifth-largest property and
casualty insurance group in the country.  Headquartered in Los Angeles,
Farmers Insurance currently operates in 30 states.

SOURCE  Farmers Insurance Group