SafeGuard Announces Industry's First Hybrid Child Car Seat

AUSTIN, Texas & WESTFIELD, Ind.--April 10, 2006--Today at the annual LifeSavers 2006 conference, SafeGuard, the industry leader in safety restraint systems, announced the SafeGuard Go(R) portable child car seat, an innovative and completely unique solution designed to make travel with children easier than ever before.

The first ever hybrid car seat, the SafeGuard Go combines the convenience and portability of a backless booster with the safety and security of a five-point harness seat. It is lightweight (under ten pounds) and folds neatly away into a compact travel bag for easy transport and storage. In addition to the seat's safety and transport advantages, the SafeGuard Go can be installed properly in less than one minute.

"One of the shared rituals that has plagued on-the-go parents for years is what we call the car seat shuffle -- the time-consuming hassle of switching bulky child car seats from vehicle to vehicle, fumbling to reinstall them for morning carpools, and the headache of hauling them through airports on family trips," said Steve Wallen, president and general manager of IMMI's SafeGuard division. "The SafeGuard Go brings an end to the car seat shuffle once and for all, giving busy parents the flexibility to go anywhere with their child car seat."

The SafeGuard Go takes the headache out of long-distance travel since it is small enough to carry on an airplane and saves the cost and hassle of renting child seats at your travel destination.

According to a report published by the Travel Industry Association of America, Americans were expected to take 328 million leisure trips during June, July and August of 2005(1). With the 2006 summer travel season around the corner, it is more important than ever for parents to ensure their kids are safely buckled up in a child seat.

The SafeGuard Go exceeds all government safety standards and has undergone the most thorough testing in the industry. Using its own state-of-the-art crash-test facility, the Center for Advanced Product Evaluation (CAPE), SafeGuard subjected the SafeGuard Go to rigorous testing and evaluated it for crashworthiness.

"SafeGuard has a long history of providing safety technologies that are extensively tested and proven to perform at the highest standards," said Diane Steed, former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "Their comprehensive in-house testing is an example of their strong commitment to child passenger protection."

Product Highlights

- Installs properly in less than 1 minute

- LATCH equipped for secure installation, reduced misuse

- Protective 5-point harness fits children all the way up to 60lbs

- Converts to LATCH-equipped backless booster for children up to 100 pounds

- Lightweight and compact (weighs under 10 pounds)

- Folds easily away and fits in convenient travel bag

- Far surpasses all government safety and testing standards

The SafeGuard Go is designed for front-facing use only, and requires the use of the vehicle's top tether attachment in the five-point harness mode. The five-point harness can be used with children 30-60 pounds and 34-52 inches. When the child has outgrown the five-point harness, the SafeGuard Go converts to the first ever LATCH-equipped backless booster for children 40-100 pounds and 43-57 inches.

Pricing and Availability

The SafeGuard seat is available today for $179.00. It can be purchased online at www.safeguardgo.com, by calling 1-800-974-7798, or through specialty retailers.

SafeGuard Go features a 1-year limited warranty. For more information on SafeGuard Go please visit www.safeguardgo.com

About LifeSavers 2006

Lifesavers is the premier national highway safety meeting in the United States dedicated to reducing the tragic toll of deaths and injuries on our nation's roadways. Starting in the early 1980s, the Lifesavers conference attendance has grown steadily, drawing nearly 1,900 participants in 2005. Each year, the Lifesavers Conference has become even more relevant and timely, providing a forum that delivers common-sense solutions to today's critical highway safety problems. The conference addresses a wide range of safety topics, from child passenger safety and occupant protection to roadway and vehicle safety and technology. It offers the latest information on advances in highway safety, highlights successful programs, and draws attention to emerging safety issues. For more information, please visit www.lifesaversconference.org/

About SafeGuard/IMMI

SafeGuard has been the leader in child passenger protection for over 20 years. In addition to being the largest child seating safety products manufacturer in the world, SafeGuard is also the first company to introduce lap-shoulder belts on school buses. Headquartered in the Heartland and reaching people across the globe, SafeGuard delivers products that mean a safer future for every child riding in a vehicle.

SafeGuard is a division of IMMI. For over four decades IMMI has been bringing safety to people through designing, testing and manufacturing safety restraint systems. IMMI provides hundreds of products for various sectors including the commercial vehicle, power sports, child seating, and school bus industries. IMMI's testing and analysis facility, the Center for Advanced Product Evaluation (CAPE), located at company headquarters in Westfield, Indiana, conducts crash/rollover tests, environmental tests, and analysis services. IMMI is an international company that tests to U.S., European and Australian standards. IMMI is a privately held company and is ISO 9001-2000 certified. For more information about IMMI, please visit www.imminet.com.

(1)"Travel Industry Fun Facts," Travel Industry Association of America, 2005. http://www.tia.org/pressmedia/fun_facts.html