Ford Donates 15,000 Booster Seats To 43 Native American Tribes in 18 States
6 December 2000
Ford Donates 15,000 Booster Seats To 43 Native American Tribes in 18 States
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 Ford Motor Company announced today that
as part of its Boost America! auto safety campaign to get children to use
booster seats it will donate 15,000 seats to Native American youngsters in 18
states. Native American children are more likely to be involved in crashes, a
statistic that Ford Motor Company hopes to reverse.
The announcement was made in Washington, D.C. where the nation's leading
highway safety officials and organizations gathered to discuss Ford Motor
Company's overall national strategy for getting children weighing 40-80 pounds
to use booster seats. The free booster seats will be distributed to 43 Native
American tribes (list attached).
According to Lou Camp, director of Ford Motor Company's Automotive Safety
Office, "Native Americans are being given special attention because their
children suffer motor vehicle injury and death rates that are two to three
times greater than other Americans. In some states, the rates are four to
five times higher."
One of Boost America's partners, the International Center for Injury
Prevention will work with the Native American tribes to ensure that the seats
are distributed with an educational component about how to use them properly.
And, the National Association of Governors' Highway Safety Representatives
will work with the campaign to coordinate booster seat awareness events in
major cities around the country. The seat donations to Native American tribes
are the first in a series of Ford Motor Company community grants that will be
awarded. Other grant applications are being evaluated and will be announced
soon.
Safety advocates agree that youngsters who have outgrown traditional child
safety seats need a booster seat during the transition until they are big
enough to use adult safety belts. Currently, most ride with no protection or
use adult belts that do not fit them properly. Booster seats are easy to use
and work by raising the child up in the seat so adult safety belts fit them
better and more comfortably.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Jim Hall said, "The
most dangerous place we take our children each and every day is on America's
highways. Working with local communities to ensure that parents are educated
about the need for boosters and how to use them correctly is a first step
toward reducing the leading killer of our children."
Dr. Sue Bailey, Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA), which is Ford Motor Company's lead campaign partner,
said, "Traffic crashes are the leading killer of children. Unfortunately,
only a small number -- less than 10 percent -- of children who should be
riding in a booster seat are doing so, and more than 500 children ages 4-8 are
killed every year as a result."
"As a physician and a mother, I know well that our children are tomorrow's
future," Bailey said. "Our Boost 'em Before You Buckle 'em campaign, in
conjunction with Boost America!, is a giant step toward preserving those
precious lives. This campaign has been widely received in hundreds of
communities and we intend on making both campaigns a permanent focus for the
agency's child passenger safety efforts. It is refreshing to know that
booster seats will soon be in the hands of those families that need them the
most."
According to Dr. Michael Trujillo, Director of Indian Health Service,
"Motor vehicle crashes are the leading killer of American Indian youth.
Through our close partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration and tribal injury prevention advocates, we have made dramatic
strides in increasing the availability and proper use of child safety seats.
Nearly 10 percent of the American Indian tribes will be reached by this Boost
America! grant. The seats provided by Ford Motor Company will make a
significant impact in the effort to reduce injury and increase motor vehicle
occupant restraint use among our youth."
Camp explained that placing the one million booster seats with low income
parents and caregivers is a campaign priority. "Boost America! is one of the
largest auto safety campaigns ever, a multi-million dollar, multi-year
investment by Ford Motor Company to build a new safety habit among children.
It includes an innovative educational curriculum that will be sent to every
elementary school and day care center in the nation with a take-home component
so parents can be involved." Nickelodeon's popular cartoon character, Blue of
"Blue's Clues," will be featured in the educational materials for pre-school
children.
Ford Motor Company organized Boost America! as a partnership that includes
the nation's most respected safety and child welfare organizations.
Additional information on Boost America! is available at the campaign's