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Toyota Says 'Think Safety: Buckle Up

24 November 1998

Toyota Says 'Think Safety: Buckle Up,' Supports Nationwide Safety Effort To Protect America's Children

    TORRANCE, Calif., Nov. 23 -- Toyota, a world leader in
seatbelt development and design, today announced its involvement in Operation
ABC Mobilization: America Buckles Up Children.
    This national campaign is timed to coincide with the Thanksgiving weekend
and is designed to bring attention to the importance of ensuring that both
children and adults use seatbelts at all times.
    More than 5,000 law enforcement agencies across the nation will conduct
the Operation, making it the largest-ever crackdown on drivers not properly
buckling-up their children.  Toyota joins over 1,000 organizations nationwide
in endorsing this intensive, 50-state lifesaving enforcement effort.
    "We stand firmly with all the other members of Operation ABC in working to
bring attention to the safety of children riding in cars and trucks," said Jim
Olson, TMS senior vice president, external affairs.  "For Operation ABC to
succeed, though, we all need to work together to reinforce the proper use of
seatbelts and child safety-seats."
    This year's Operation is the result of the success of a similar program
conducted last Memorial Day.  After that program, surveys conducted by the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed over six million more
drivers and passengers using seatbelts in their vehicles, which can save an
estimated 670 lives each year.
    Toyota has long been a world leader in seatbelt development and design,
leading to seatbelts that are easier to use and more comfortable than ever.
For example, Toyota developed a motorized passive seatbelt system, a design
subsequently used by many other auto manufacturers worldwide.  This system was
considered to be the state-of-the-art passive restraint until the wider
acceptance of airbag supplemental restraint systems in the late 1980s.
    Today, most Toyota, and all Lexus, vehicles are equipped with adjustable
shoulder anchor-points for the front-seat passengers, allowing the belt to be
adjusted up or down.  In addition, every outboard passenger seating location
in every Toyota and Lexus vehicle is equipped with an Automatic Locking
Retractor/Emergency Locking Retractor (ALR/ELR) seatbelt that allows a child
safety seat to be properly secured without the use of an auxiliary locking
clip.  And should a customer have an older Toyota not equipped with ALR/ELR
belts, they may obtain a locking clip free of charge by calling toll-free to
Toyota's Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-331-4331.
    Newer Toyota and Lexus vehicles also are equipped with front seatbelts
that incorporate pretensioners with force-limiters that pull the belts tight
in an emergency situation, then allow them a slight amount of slack to lessen
the chance of injury from an over-tight belt.
    "Toyota and Lexus seatbelt systems are designed to minimize injury to
occupants in all types of crashes," said Olson.  "But they can't work unless
the occupants use them.  There's simply no excuse for anything less."