Automotive Engineers and Ford Motor Company Use Roadside Billboards to Get Kids in Booster Seats

    DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 21 As part of an educational blitz
to reduce the risk of injury or death by getting children to ride in booster
seats, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) announced today
that roadside billboards coast-to-coast will carry a reminder about this
safety-smart practice.  SAE joins a host of other organizations partnering
with Ford Motor Company's $30 million Boost America! campaign to develop the
new safety habit among youngsters who are too big for traditional safety
seats, but not big enough for adult belts.
    According to Leslie Rizzi of SAE, "SAE is posting more than 100 Boost
America! billboards in cities nationwide to reinforce an important safety
message -- children roughly ages 4-8 who have outgrown traditional child
safety seats need to use a booster seat until they weigh 80 pounds.  Booster
seats enable the lap and shoulder belt to be positioned properly."
    "When parents and caregivers see this message, they should question
whether their children are riding with the proper protection.  If the answer
is no, then hopefully these billboards will influence them to put their child
in a booster seat the next trip," Rizzi said.
    The billboards are on display in Peoria, Il; Cleveland, OH; Hagerstown,
MD; Dayton, OH; Detroit and Grand Rapids, MI; Raleigh, NC; Nashville, TN;
Dubuque, Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, IA; Pittsburgh, PA; Janesville, WI; St.
Louis, MO; Berlin, CT; Wichita, KS; and the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
    James Vondale, Ford Motor Company's Director of Automotive Safety said,
"Changing attitudes and behaviors takes time, and the concerted efforts of
many organizations.  We are proud to have SAE as a Boost America! partner, and
appreciate this significant contribution to our goal of reducing the risk of
injuries and deaths to children."
    "SAE's billboards are grassroots communications designed to influence
safety habits," Vondale said.
    In addition to billboards, local SAE organizations will make other
contributions to the campaign.  For example, in Washington, DC, the Boost
America! message will be carried on milk cartons and grocery bags.  In
Rockford, Illinois, it will be on transit buses.  In some communities, posters
will be delivered to day care centers, physicians' offices, schools and other
locations where parents and children are likely to see them.
    According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Ford Motor Company's lead campaign partner, few children over age three ride
with the protection of a booster seat -- a simple device that raises the child
in the seat so the vehicle's adult lap and shoulder belts fit better and more
comfortably -- low across the hips/pelvis and snugly across the chest and
shoulder (not across the neck).  More than 500 children ages 4-8 are killed in
car crashes every year.  Most were riding with no protection or using adult
belts that did not fit properly.
    In addition to SAE and NHTSA, other Boost America! partners include: AAA;
American Academy of Pediatrics; American Trauma Society; Emergency Nurses
CARE; Evenflo; Graco-Century; Health Resources and Services Administration,
Maternal and Child Health Bureau; Hertz Corporation; Indian Health Service;
International Association of Chiefs of Police; International Center for Injury
Prevention; National Association of Governors' Highway Safety Representatives;
National Association of Police Organizations; National Association of School
Nurses; National Association of School Resource Officers; National Fire
Protection Association; National Urban League; Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues;
State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association; and United Way
of America.
    Additional information about Boost America! is available at the campaign's