AAA Strollerthon Will Fund Child Safety Seats and Booster Seats

AURORA, Ill., July 22 -- Low-income families in need of child safety seats or booster seats will benefit from the state's first ever AAA Strollerthon event, taking place Saturday, August 7 at the Chicago Botanic Garden, led by AAA President and COO Steve Bernth.

Volunteers, made up of AAA employees, members and the public, will walk or push baby strollers along a marked three-mile route and seek pledges to raise funds to purchase child safety seats for distribution to families in need, free of charge.

AAA Chicago is partnering with The Chicagoland SAFE KIDS Coalition, Hertz and ABC 7. Money raised will be used to purchase and distribute child safety seats to low-income families 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 Bernth. "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 Bernth, the AAA Strollerthon will help raise awareness of child passenger safety issues, in addition to providing free safety seats to low-income families.

"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 Bernth.

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 Chicago 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 and older 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 belt combination is critical to the safety of these
     children.

AAA also suggests a child passenger safety seat inspection annually and provides information for a free car seat inspection performed by other organizations. Please refer to the Web sites 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).

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

AAA Chicago offers automotive, travel, insurance and financial services. It is part of The Auto Club Group (ACG), 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.