Sesame Street and Ford Present Bilingual Auto Safety In New Orleans
30 October 1998
Sesame Street and Ford Present Bilingual Automotive Safety Campaign In New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 30 -- Ford Motor Company and
Children's Television Workshop (CTW) have teamed up to bring "Buckle Up with
Sesame Street," their 1998 national multi-city safety tour, to the Plaza.
The live song and dance program is designed to teach children and parents
safe seating techniques and the importance of wearing safety belts. The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that
80 percent of children are improperly restrained when they ride in cars and
trucks.
"Buckle Up with Sesame Street," featuring Elmo, Rosita and Telly Monster,
debuts in New Orleans during Ford's news conference at the Plaza, Friday,
October 30, at 12:00 p.m. The show will perform at the Plaza, Friday,
October 30 - Sunday, November, 1.
"Buckle Up with Sesame Street" is one part of the three-year alliance
between Ford Division and CTW, the producers of Sesame Street, to deliver
automotive safety messages to children and parents in English and Spanish.
The show will be traveling to community centers, malls and auto shows in over
14 major cities throughout the United States and Canada.
EN CARE, a multifaceted organization dealing with many aspects of injury
prevention, has partnered with Ford to provide detailed child passenger safety
seat demonstrations after each "Buckle Up With Sesame Street" presentation.
"Buckle Up With Sesame Street" emphasizes these key safety messages:
* Always wear a safety belt while driving or riding in a car or truck.
* Children are safest properly restrained in the back seat.
* Use approved child safety seats for children weighing less than
40 pounds.
* Children between 4 and 11 years of age and weighing between 40 and 90
pounds should use a booster cushion to help position the safety belt
across the shoulder and hips.
* Rear-facing child seats always should be placed in the back seat of
vehicles or in the front seat of trucks equipped with the passenger air
bag switch in the "off" position.
* Front seats should be moved as far back as possible from air bags.
Educating parents and children will help reduce auto-related injuries and
deaths.
Facts highlighting the need for safety education are:
* Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children from
5-15 years of age.
* Currently, 65 children have been killed by an inflating air bag while
riding in the front seat of a vehicle. Almost all were improperly
restrained.
* Child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 69 percent for
infants and by 47 percent for toddlers.
* Increasing safety belt usage and having children properly restrained in
the back seat is the most effective way to save lives.
The three-year auto safety campaign is expected to reach millions of U.S.
families through print and broadcast media materials, distributed in both
English and Spanish, along with live character appearances.
The campaign includes television advertising for the new Ford Windstar
with tagged PSA's featuring Sesame Street characters delivering safety
messages; custom published magazines delivered to more than 2.6 million homes
along with the Sesame Street Parents magazine; a safety content area on the
Sesame Street web site; print and television public service announcements; and
safety advice materials for children and parents distributed through Ford
dealerships.
The Ford Windstar was chosen to help deliver automotive safety messages
because it is equipped with more than 40 standard safety features and has
earned the five-star federal government crash-test rating for four years in a
row (1995-1998 models) for providing the best protection of any minivan.
The new 1999 Ford Windstar is a natural to help deliver the alliance's
automotive safety messages because it makes safety and security a priority.
The 1999 Windstar debuts this fall with new looks, segment-leading features
and new levels of safety and environmental responsibility. It was redesigned
to include an all-new exterior and interior appearance, add a driver's side
sliding door and maintain structural integrity. Additionally, its 3.8-V6 will
achieve Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) status according to California's
strict emission standards.
Windstar is the first Ford Division vehicle and the first minivan in North
America to offer optional front-seat head and chest side air bags. The head
and chest air bags are designed to help reduce the potential for injury in the
event of a side impact. The air bags are located in the front seat back
bolsters. Crash sensors are mounted beneath the first-row seats and act
independently of the front air bags.
The combination of Ford and Sesame Street is a natural. CTW is the
world's leader in educating and entertaining children, having reached millions
of children in more than 140 countries. It is estimated that 96 percent of
all American children have seen Sesame Street by the age of 3. Sesame Street
has a long history of celebrating cultural diversity and encouraging young
children to learn more about their heritage.
Ford is a leader in developing and providing reliable occupant safety for
our customers worldwide. Ford vehicles earn the highest marks of any full-
line automaker in crash test ratings released by the federal government.
Virtually every Ford vehicle currently rated has received the government's top
four- or five-star frontal crash test rating, including the 1999 Taurus.