AAA Projects 5,200 Lives Saved With Proper Child Seat Belt Use; Launches Major Safety Campaign.Business Editors CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 2002 AAA AAA: see American Automobile Association. (Triple A) A common single-cell battery used in a myriad of electronic devices of all variety. Like its double A (AA) cousin, it provides 1.5 volts of DC power. When used in series, the voltage is multiplied. today projected that significant lives could be saved and the economic cost of traffic crashes dramatically lowered if all children were buckled properly in a child restraint child restraint n. A device, such as a seat belt or small car seat with a seat belt, used to control and protect a child in a motor vehicle. system. AAA projects that if all children were properly buckled, more than 5,200 children 15 years of age and under would be saved over a ten-year period. AAA conducted an analysis based on research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, often pronounced "nit-suh") is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government, part of the Department of Transportation. which shows proper child restraint systems can reduce fatal injuries to infants by 71 percent to children 1 to 4 years by 54 percent, and to those age 5-15 by 45 percent. To help move the nation toward complete compliance of proper child-restraint use, AAA today launched a multi-year national education and advocacy campaign to help reduce the leading cause of death for children 1-15 years of age as part of its year-long centennial celebration. The AAA campaign - "Seated, Safe and Secure" - will focus on three major areas. They are: enhancing inadequate child passenger safety laws in the vast majority of states, changing the behavior of parents through a massive public awareness campaign, and letting the public know that it can use AAA as a resource for its child passenger safety needs. AAA also sent an open letter today to all major auto manufacturers calling on them to encourage their dealerships to have a trained safety seat technician on staff and to offer affordable, user-friendly child passenger seat options in more models. "Although it may be difficult to achieve safety seat compliance 100 percent of the time, the closer we move toward that goal, the more young lives we save and the more we lessen less·en v. less·ened, less·en·ing, less·ens v.tr. 1. To make less; reduce. 2. Archaic To make little of; belittle. v.intr. To become less; decrease. the enormous emotional and financial costs of these fatalities," said Robert L. Darbelnet, AAA president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . A key "Seated Safe and Secure" campaign goal is to have legislation passed in every state and the District of Columbia District of Columbia, federal district (2000 pop. 572,059, a 5.7% decrease in population since the 1990 census), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), on the east bank of the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Washington, D.C. (the capital of the United States). by 2005 to close the loopholes in current occupant occupant n. 1) someone living in a residence or using premises, as a tenant or owner. 2) a person who takes possession of real property or a thing which has no known owner, intending to gain ownership. (See: occupancy) protection laws to ensure every child is properly restrained up to age 18. AAA hopes to duplicate the tremendous state-by-state effort that was responsible for helping to pass teen driving laws in 47 states within three years. In a nationwide survey of AAA members, 81 percent said they supported legislation that would strengthen their state's child passenger safety laws. In addition, 78 percent of members who transport children indicated they would favor a law in their state that would allow a police officer to pull over a driver for not having a passenger under the age of 16 properly restrained in their vehicle. The survey also revealed that 61 percent of respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. said they were aware they could attend a car safety seat check to make sure their seat was installed properly, but only 21 percent had actually attended such an event. "It is imperative that we educate parents on the importance of properly buckling buckling Mode of failure under compression of a structural component that is thin (see shell structure) or much longer than wide (e.g., post, column, leg bone). Leonhard Euler first worked out in 1757 the theory of why such members buckle. their children in a child restraint or booster seat booster seat n. 1. A car seat for a small child that lifts the child by several inches, designed for use with an adult seat belt. 2. A seat placed on top of the seat of a chair, used to elevate a small child at a table. ," said Darbelnet. "The safest child restraint system is one that a parent will use effectively and consistently." The survey is based on a national telephone survey of 1,600 AAA members and has a plus or minus rate of 2 percent. As part of its education campaign, AAA today also released to TV stations a 30-second public service announcement that features Academy-Award winning actress Marlee Matlin Marlee Beth Matlin (born August 24 1965) is an Academy Award-winning American actress who is almost completely deaf. Biography Early life Matlin was born in Morton Grove, Illinois to Libby and Donald Matlin, an automobile dealer. , who is also the mother of two young children. In addition to its role as the national certifying agency for NHTSA's Child Passenger Safety Program, AAA has launched the Web site aaasafejourney.org to provide members and the public with instant access to child safety material. In clinics held nationwide by AAA to instruct in·struct v. in·struct·ed, in·struct·ing, in·structs v.tr. 1. To provide with knowledge, especially in a methodical way. See Synonyms at teach. 2. To give orders to; direct. v. parents on proper child restraint use, misuse rates at some clinics ran as high as 90 percent. "We hope to raise awareness of the misuse problem by letting the public know that it can rely on AAA as a resource to find a safety seat check, locate a child safety seat technician or answer any questions about child passenger safety," Darbelnet said. As the nation's largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides its 45 million members in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and Canada with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax- paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety of all travelers.
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