Sesame Street and Ford Deliver Bilingual Automotive Safety Campaign To Philadelphia
30 January 1998
Sesame Street and Ford Deliver Bilingual Automotive Safety Campaign To Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 30 -_ Ford Motor Company and
Children's Television Workshop (CTW) have teamed up to bring "Buckle Up with
Sesame Street," their 1998 national multi-city safety tour, to the
Philadelphia Auto Show. The live song and dance program is designed to teach
children and parents safe seating techniques and the importance of wearing
safety belts. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
estimates that 80 percent of children are improperly restrained when they ride
in cars and trucks.
"Buckle Up with Sesame Street" featuring Elmo, Rosita and Telly Monster
debuted in Philadelphia during Ford's press conference at the Philadelphia
Auto Show, Friday, Jan. 30. The show will be presented to the public at the
Philadelphia Auto Show, Saturday, Jan. 31-Sunday, Feb. 1.
"Buckle Up with Sesame Street" is one part of the three-year alliance
between Ford and CTW, the producers of Sesame Street, to deliver automotive
safety messages to children and parents in English and Spanish.
Following the Philadelphia Auto Show, the show will travel to community
centers, malls and auto shows in 14 other major cities throughout the United
States, including New York, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles.
Certified nurses trained in child safety provide detailed child passenger
safety seat demonstrations after each "Buckle Up With Sesame Street"
presentation. Emergency Nurses CARE, a multifaceted organization dealing with
many aspects of injury prevention, has partnered with Ford to provide this
service.
"Buckle Up With Sesame Street" emphasizes these key safety messages:
* Always wear a safety belt while driving or riding in a car or truck.
* Children are safest properly restrained in the back seat.
* Use approved child safety seats for children weighing less than 40
pounds.
* Children between 4 and 11 years of age and weighing between 40 and 90
pounds should use a booster cushion to help position the safety belt across
the shoulder and hips.
* Rear-facing child seats always should be placed in the back seat of
vehicles or in the front seat of trucks equipped with the passenger air bag
switch in the "off" position.
* Front seats should be moved as far back as possible from air bags.
Educating parents and children will help reduce auto-related injuries and
deaths. Facts highlighting the need for safety education are:
* Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children from
5-15.
* Currently, 49 children have been killed by an inflating air bag while
riding in the front seat of a vehicle. Almost all were not properly
restrained.
* Child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 69 percent for
infants and by 47 percent for toddlers.
* Increasing safety belt usage and having children properly restrained in
the back seat is the most effective way to save U.S. lives.
The three-year auto safety campaign is expected to reach millions of U.S.
families through print and broadcast media materials, distributed in both
English and Spanish, along with live character appearances.
The Ford Windstar was chosen to help deliver automotive safety messages
because it is equipped with more than 40 standard safety features and earned
the five-star federal government crash-test rating for providing the best
protection of any minivan. Windstar is the only minivan to receive this
rating.
The campaign includes television advertising for the 1998 Ford Windstar
with Sesame Street characters delivering safety messages; custom published
magazines delivered to over 2.6 million homes along with the Sesame Street
Parents magazine; a safety content area on the Sesame Street web site; print
and television public service announcements; and safety advice materials for
children and parents distributed through Ford dealerships.
The combination of Ford and Sesame Street is a natural. CTW is the
world's leader in educating and entertaining children, having reached more
than 120 million children in more than 130 countries. It is estimated that 96
percent of all American children have seen Sesame Street by the age of 3.
Sesame Street has a long history of celebrating cultural diversity and
encouraging young children to learn more about their heritage.
SOURCE Ford Motor Company
