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DaimlerChrysler Announces 'Back Is Where It's At' Poster Awards

22 May 2000

DaimlerChrysler Announces 'Back Is Where It's At' Poster Awards

               Kids Make Passenger Safety a Winning Proposition

    AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 22 More than 5,000 school
children have joined a special DaimlerChrysler Corporation effort to help
assure American parents and children buckle-up by submitting colorful entries
in the "The Back Is Where It's At" Poster Contest.
    The campaign is aimed at reducing needless death and injury on America's
roadways, where an estimated 80 million people still refuse to wear their
safety belts.
    To emphasize the need for proper child restraint, children in the nation's
53,000 elementary schools were invited to create colorful posters encouraging
their peers to always "Do The Buckle."  Some recreated themselves buckled up
properly in the back seat, while others illustrated their stuffed animals
tightly secured in booster seats.  After weeding through thousands of posters
from the child artists, DaimlerChrysler chose Jessica Gonzales of Phoenix,
Arizona as the grand prize winner for grades K-3 and Brittany Kubesh of
Brownstown, Michigan for grades 4-6.
    "The posters are not just art," explains Laura Gilbert, a fourth grade art
teacher from Gudith Elementary School in Brownstown, Michigan.  "They are
highly beneficial, hands-on educational tools that allow children to express
themselves.  The students thought the message through, interpreted it on paper
for their peers, and in the process, became more aware of the need to buckle
up properly every time they are in a car."
    The grand prize winners will receive a personal computer and their schools
will receive a $2,000 gift of books for the school library and a class pizza
party.  DaimlerChrysler also will donate 2,000 booster seats to local safety
organizations in honor of each winner.
    DaimlerChrysler invited representatives from the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA), National Safety Council, American Academy of
Pediatrics, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to judge the
entries.  The contest is a part of the "The Back Is Where It's At," program, a
safety curriculum addressing air bag safety and the importance of proper child
restraint.  Originally developed by DaimlerChrysler Corporation in 1997, the
$1 million program is one of the largest efforts of its kind, reaching 21
million school children in 53,000 schools across the country.
    According to the NHTSA, children age 12 and under should ride in the back
seat restrained in a child safety seat or the vehicle's lap/shoulder belts,
depending on the child's height and weight.  School age children are
especially at risk, according to a recent study by the Center for Disease
Control, which found that most children weighing 40 to 80 pounds are not using
the booster seats they need to adequately protect them in a crash.
    "The Back Is Where It's At" is one of several DaimlerChrysler Corporation
safety initiatives.  Other safety programs include Fit for a Kid -- a
$10 million dealer-based child safety seat inspection service, the Neon Drunk
Driving Simulator, Do the Buckle, and Stop Red Light Running.  DaimlerChrysler
also is a partner in the Air Bag & Safety Belt Safety Campaign.

    Always wear your seat belt.
    Children under 12 should be properly restrained in the back seat.

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