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Allstate Stands Behind Expanded National Crackdown

24 November 1998

Allstate Stands Behind Expanded National Crackdown on Drivers Who Don't Buckle Up Children

    NORTHBROOK, I11., Nov. 23 -- Allstate Insurance Company
announced its official support of a national mobilization this Thanksgiving
holiday to protect children by stepping up enforcement of child passenger
safety laws.  More than 5,000 law enforcement agencies across the nation are
conducting the second 1998 wave of the Operation ABC Mobilization:  America
Buckle Up Children -- the largest ever coordinated crackdown on drivers who
don't buckle up children.  Allstate joins over 1,000 organizations countrywide
that endorse the intensive, 50-state lifesaving enforcement effort.
    "Tens of thousands of law enforcement officers in all 50 states will be
out in force protecting children from the greatest danger they face -- being
unrestrained in a crash," said Janet Dewey, Executive Director of the Air Bags
& Seat Belt Safety Campaign, sponsor of the Operation ABC Mobilization.  "We
know these officers are energized by the groundswell of support from
organizations across the country like Allstate."
    "Although only law enforcement officers can write the tickets, we stand
firmly behind the lifesaving message each ticket delivers," said Joe Groner,
Director, Corporate Relations for Allstate.  "Allstate is not only an
employer, we're parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who want to protect
our children.  The Operation ABC Mobilization is the kind of broad
community-based movement our nation needs to save children's lives."
    The Thanksgiving Operation ABC Mobilization comes on the heels of an
extremely successful Mobilization last Memorial Day.  The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration's observational surveys before and after the
last May Mobilization showed six million more people buckling up.  This
translates into an estimated 670 lives saved each year if these people
continue to use their seat belts.  In addition, a survey by the National
Safety Council showed fatalities went down by more than 35 percent during the
Mobilization/Memorial Day period.
    "The impact of the last Operation ABC Mobilization clearly illustrates
that high-visibility enforcement works," said Joe Groner.  "That is why
Allstate gives its official Endorsement for Enforcement.  We hope officers can
expand the Mobilization's success and, once again, save lives with a clear
message to America:  The law requires that children be buckled up at all
times. No exceptions.  No excuses."
    Studies consistently show that the best way to get children buckled up is
to get adults buckled up.  According to observational data, when a driver
buckles up, children are buckled up 87 percent of the time;  however, when a
driver is unbuckled, child belt use drops to only 24 percent.  A recent study
by the University of California, Irvine, reported in the journal Pediatrics,
found, "Driver restraint use was the strongest predictor of child restraint
use... a restrained driver was three times more likely to restrain a child."
That is why, increasingly, officers are strengthening enforcement of adult
belt laws during the Operation ABC Mobilization.
    Many drivers just don't believe they'll be in a crash, so they don't put
on their own seat belt or make sure that children are restrained.  The
possibility of being stopped and ticketed is what it takes for many drivers to
protect children by always buckling them up.
    A survey of parents who have infants shows that the lack of adult
belt use particularly endangers babies:  parents who don't buckle up are more
likely to improperly place babies in the front seat, leaving them at serious
risk of being injured or killed by an air bag.  According to investigations,
almost all of the children who have died from air bag related injuries were
completely unrestrained, improperly restrained or were infants riding in a
rear-facing infant seat.
    "In addition to getting kids buckled up, we must get the word out to
parents that all children 12 and under belong properly buckled up in the back
seat -- especially in a vehicle equipped with air bags," said Dewey.  The
Mobilization also seeks to reach part-time seat belt users.  "Some people
believe they secure their children, but they don't actually buckle them up on
every trip, particularly the short trips," Dewey added.  "Most crashes happen
within a few miles from home.  That's why it's so important to secure everyone
in the vehicle every time and on every trip."  As part of their enforcement
activities throughout the Operation ABC Mobilization, officers will distribute
information on air bag safety and the importance of making sure children 12
and under ride properly buckled up in the back seat.
    The Allstate Corporation, the parent of Allstate Insurance Company, is the
nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurance company, insuring one
of every eight homes and automobiles in the country.  The company provides
insurance for more than 20 million customers and has approximately 15,000
agents in the U.S. and Canada.  Allstate is also a major life insurer.