AAA Strollerthon Pushes Free Child Passenger Safety and Booster Seats

DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 12, 2004 -- Low-income families in need of child safety seats or booster seats will benefit from a new program announced today by AAA Michigan. The Michigan AAA Strollerthon event will take place July 10 at the Detroit Zoo, led by AAA Michigan President and COO Doug Bower.

The Strollerthon will roll out simultaneously across The Auto Club Group's service territory, which covers eight Midwestern states. Volunteers, made up of AAA employees, members and the public, will walk or push baby strollers along a marked 1.8-mile route and seek pledges to raise funds to purchase child safety seats for distribution to families in need, free of charge.

AAA Michigan will partner with a local non-profit organization, which will use the collected funds to purchase and distribute child safety seats to low- income families with children who might otherwise not be able to afford the proper equipment. Child passenger safety is AAA's major traffic safety initiative for 2004.

"The AAA Strollerthon adds to our proud, 100-year legacy of traffic safety programs," said Bower. "This community event is a logical extension of our efforts to promote safety for this area's youngest passengers. The Strollerthon and the funds we raise will ensure that more children, regardless of family income, are seated, safe and secure in age- and size-appropriate restraint systems in cars and other motor vehicles throughout our service area."

According to Bower, the AAA Strollerthon will help raise awareness of child passenger safety issues, in addition to providing free safety seats to low-income families.

During National Child Passenger Safety Week, which runs February 9 through 13, AAA Michigan urges parents and caregivers to consider the cost of not using the right restraint for their child's age and size. Children too old for infant and toddler child safety seats, but too young to use adult lap and shoulder safety belts safely, are of special concern.

"Most young passengers between the ages of four and eight need booster seats to prevent serious injury or death in the event of a crash," said Bower. "Unfortunately only about 15 percent of this age group actually uses them."

In 2000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 1,471 child passengers, from birth to age 14, died in motor vehicle crashes in the United States. Of the children killed in motor vehicle crashes during 1999 and 2000, more than half were unrestrained; 18 percent were incorrectly restrained and 35 percent were sitting in the front seat.

AAA Michigan is joining with other safety organizations to encourage parents and caregivers to have their child safety seats inspected and to remember that all children under the age of 13 should ride in the rear seat of motor vehicles. Parents should also follow these four guidelines to protect children in motor vehicles:

1. Rear-facing infant seats - Newborn to 1-year-old and up to 20 pounds.

2. Forward-facing child safety seats - 1-4 years old, between 20-40 pounds. Parents are encouraged to keep their children "rear facing" to the upper weight limit of the seat if they have a "convertible" (both front and rear facing) child safety seat.

3. Booster seats - Up to age 8 or about 4'9" tall. The use of both a lap and shoulder belt is critical.

4. Adult safety belts - Age 8 and older, at least 4'9" tall. Again, a lap and shoulder safety belt combination is critical to the safety of these children.

Although the AAA Strollerthon does not take place until July, parents and caregivers may benefit from a one-time, limited coupon offer, taking place now through the end of March. AAA is providing a $10-off coupon, good for any car seat priced at $30 or more at Toys R Us/Babies R Us. The coupon can be ordered by calling AAA Michigan at 1-800-646-4222.

AAA also offers year-round child passenger safety seat inspections and provides information for free car seat inspections performed by other organizations as well. Please refer to the websites listed below for locations, dates and times, or to determine if the safety seat you are using has been subject to any recall or for more information on child passenger safety.

  Find a free child safety seat inspection near you
  http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/whatis/regions/index.cfm?fitting=yes
  1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236)

  Has your safety seat been recalled?
  http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls/childseat.cfm

  Mas informacion
  http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/multicultural

The Auto Club Group (ACG) is the largest affiliation of AAA clubs in the Midwest, with 4.1 million members in eight states. ACG clubs belong to the national AAA federation, a not-for-profit organization with more than 46 million members in the United States and Canada.

NOTE TO EDITORS: National Child Passenger Safety Week is February 9-13.