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| NADA Chairman William Bradshaw greets a young participant at the child passenger seat safety event in downtown Greenville, S.C. | |
Program included free seat inspections
Greenville, S.C., September 13, 2006 — With thousands of children killed or injured in car crashes each year, the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and Bradshaw Automotive Group are working to change that by raising awareness of proper child safety seat use.
NADA and Bradshaw Automotive teamed with Safe Kids Upstate and Greenville Hospital System Children's Hospital to conduct a free child safety seat inspection at the West End Field in downtown Greenville. Despite the rain, scores of parents and grandparents showed up to have their child-car seats checked for safety, efficiency and proper installation.
"We're not going to let a little bit of rain get in the way of a successful day," said William Bradshaw, chairman of NADA and president of Bradshaw Automotive Group. "Automobiles are our business, but even more we care about the families that drive our products."
It was the kickoff of a nationwide NADA campaign to educate parents about the importance of child-safety seats, using the correct type of seat for the child's weight and age and teaching them how to properly install the seat. The initiative is part of NADA's Child Passenger Safety Month in September, as thousands of auto dealers nationwide join Bradshaw Automotive in hosting child seat inspection events at the dealerships to help save lives.
"National statistics show that 85 percent of all children in child safety seats are not being restrained properly, and the misusage rate in S.C. is even more alarming at more than 93 percent of children improperly restrained," said Bradshaw. "Many parents are unaware that their children are at risk, and as NADA members and new car dealers, we want to do what we can to help save lives and prevent needless injuries from motor vehicles."
Certified technicians inspected more than 160 child-car seats at the event. Each car seat was checked to ensure it was not damaged or on a recall list, that it was installed correctly and that the child fit in the seat properly. If the seat could not be used correctly or was damaged or recalled, Safe Kids Upstate replaced the seat with a new seat. Safe Kids used a bulldozer to crush any unsafe or unusable seats to ensure they cannot be used again.
According to national data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), highway crashes are the leading cause of death or injury for children annually, and more than 40 percent of those under the age of eight who are hurt or killed are completely unrestrained. A large majority of those unrestrained or improperly restrained are older children ages four to seven who are either in the wrong type of booster seat or are just using the adult seat belts, which is why the NADA has made booster seat safety awareness in particular its primary goal this year.
"Safe Kids Worldwide has a long-standing relationship with NADA, and together we are committed to providing our communities with the resources all families need to protect their children on our roads," said Linda Brees, Safe Kids Upstate. "In South Carolina, one child dies every day from an accidental injury that could have been prevented. This demonstrates that there is still work to do."
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| Certified technicians were on site at the event to check each car seat to ensure it was not damaged or on a recall list, that it was installed correctly and that the child fit in the seat properly. |
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Despite the rain, scores of parents and grandparents showed up to have their child-car seats checked for safety, efficiency and proper installation. |
About NADA
The National Automobile Dealers Association, founded in 1917 and based in McLean, Va., represents approximately 20,000 new car and truck dealers holding nearly 43,000 separate franchises, domestic and international.
About Safe Kids Upstate
Safe Kids Upstate is one of more than 450 coalitions in 15 countries affiliated with Safe Kids Worldwide®, an organization whose mission is to prevent accidental childhood injury, a leading killer of children 14 and under. There are 13 Safe Kids coalitions and two Chapters in South Carolina. Safe Kids Upstate Coalition, led by Greenville Hospital System Children's Hospital Children’s Advocacy, consists of more than 70 community partners who join together to fight unintentional injuries.
Contacts:
David Hyatt, Vice President and Chief Public Affairs Officer
NADA Public Affairs
(703) 821-7120
dhyatt@nada.org
Related Links
Download Child Passenger Safety – A Parent's Primer, a two-page brochure from NADA and NHTSA*
Download NADA's dealer tool kit, Building Child Passenger Safety Awareness in Your Community (3.65 MB PDF)*
Where to Check Your Child's Safety Seat
It's a Fact: Statistics On Child Passenger Safety (CPS)
NADA's Commitment to Child Passenger Safety
Frequently Asked Questions
A Parent's Guide to Buying and Using Booster Seats*
*PDF file requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.