Call on Minnesota Legislators to Pass an Enhanced Child Restraint Law

BURNSVILLE, Minn.--Feb. 23, 2006--Randy Williams, president of AAA Minnesota/Iowa, and the Child Passenger Safety Coalition, held a press conference today with nationally renowned child passenger safety experts. The press conference, featuring representatives from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the SafeKids Worldwide organization, called on Minnesota's legislators to pass an enhanced child restraint law.

"The Child Passenger Safety Coalition comprises more than two dozen health and safety organizations as well as more than 100 local law enforcement agencies committed to passing House File 319 and its companion Senate File 298," said Randy Williams, president of AAA Minnesota/Iowa. "It is time that Minnesota took seriously the leading cause of death for children more than one year of age- automobile crashes, as well as the simple and inexpensive solution- a belt positioning booster seat," he continued.

"The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has completed research that clearly demonstrates booster seats reduce the risk of injury by nearly 60 percent when compared to safety belts alone," said Suzanne Hill, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "When we compared types of injuries between booster seat users and those who used seat belts alone, we found that children in booster seats suffered virtually no abdominal or spinal injuries while children in seat belts suffered injuries to every body region," she continued.

"As if saving children's lives was not reason enough, Minnesota has another reason to improve their law," stated Alan Korn, SafeKids Worldwide. "Recently, the federal government's Department of Transportation has made the passage of booster seat laws as one of their priorities. States that pass a law requiring kids under age 8 to be secured in a child restraint will be eligible to receive an incentive grant to fund their child passenger safety enforcement efforts. If Minnesota can pass their law by July 1st, your state can be of the first ones to receive funding," he continued.

Minnesota's current child restraint law was crafted more than 25 years ago before booster seats and rear-seating lap/shoulder belts were available.

AAA (www.aaa.com) offers automotive, travel, insurance and financial services to more than 48 million members in the United States and Canada. AAA Minnesota/Iowa is part of The Auto Club Group, with 4.1 million members in eight Midwest states. AAA Minneapolis has more than 175,000 members throughout Hennepin County.