Child Safety

Campaign Has Made 1.2 Million Children Worldwide Aware of Road Safety

June17, 2008 -- Every year since its launch in 2000, the international ‘Safety For All’ campaign has offered primary school teachers the opportunity to make their students aware of road safety thanks to a free teaching kit and a drawing competition.

This year’s campaign reached out to another 1.2 million children worldwide aged between 7 and 11 years through the teaching kit. Eight countries competed in the drawing competition, with nearly 6,000 entries on the theme of ‘Road safety is our business!’

Government safety agencies say program has helped change child safety "culture" and saved "hundreds of lives"

LOS ANGELES, 2008-06-12 — Safe Kids Buckle Up, the child passenger safety program of Safe Kids USA sponsored by General Motors and Chevrolet, has reached a milestone no other program can claim: one million child safety seats checked for proper installation.

One-millionth Child Safety Seat Checked: Los Angeles Coordinator for Safe Kids USA Marisela De La Torre (right) checks the car seat restraint setup on Ulrick Major at a Safe Kids USA program sponsored by General Motors and Chevrolet in Los Angeles, California Thursday, June 12, 2008. (Photo by Tyler Mallory for Safe Kids USA)

DEARBORN, Mich., May 21, 2008 – Ford Motor Company and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) will embark this fall on an international study of a more lifelike prototype abdominal insert for pediatric crash dummies.

Ford's Pediatric Crash Dummy: The prototype pediatric abdomen insert is similar in size and shape to that of a 6-year-old child and is made of multiple layers of liquid silicone that, when solidified, forms a tough silicone shell.

Pediatric crash dummies with the more lifelike abdomen will help in analyzing the risk of serious injury to children during car accidents. Independent studies show that children ages 4 to 8 are at higher risk for injuries to the spine and abdomen.

Researchers share 5 key tips for parents to protect children from unsafe driving situations

PHILADELPHIA, March 3, 2008 /PRNewswire - USNewswire/ -- Child passengers, ages 12 to 16, are more likely to die in a car crash than younger children, according to a study released today in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. This risk increases with each teenage year. Conducted as part of an on-going research collaboration between The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and State Farm Insurance Companies(R), the study offers evidence-based guidelines for parents and policymakers to help protect this vulnerable age group.

February 14, 2008 -- Statement of Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers President & CEO Dave McCurdy in response to Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007:

“This industry is 100 percent behind this legislation and we’re committed to using these initiatives to further enhance child safety in and around motor vehicles. We applaud Congress for working with the Administration, the industry and others who share our concern for safety to produce this comprehensive approach to enhancing child safety."

30 Years Later

Washington, D.C., 1/17/2008 -- Thirty years after the enactment of the nation’s first child safety seat law, a new survey shows parents strongly support child safety seats and child seat laws.

Yet nearly 100 children under age 5 die every year in crashes they could have survived if they had been using child safety seats, said AAA in calling for states to close gaps in their child passenger safety laws.

Volvo Cars new integrated 2 stage booster seat helps protect children who have outgrown their toddler seat. This integrated 2 stage booster cushion in combination with the extended Inflatable Curtain, and load limiting seat belts is a world first and recently received international acknowledgment as a unique engineering solution to give children of different size a safe and comfortable travel experience.

2008 Volvo XC70: New integrated child booster cushions

Monday, October 22, 2007 -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today announced that Britax Child Safety, Inc., is recalling more than 34,000 Marathon child safety seats because the seats fail to meet federal standards.

The specific Marathon seats being recalled are model numbers E9L06, E9W06, and E906, manufactured between May 23 and June 28, 2006.

During compliance testing with child dummies weighing more than 50 pounds, the upper tether hook in some of the Marathon models bent, failing to secure the seat back properly. This could result in an injury to the restrained child in a crash.

All registered owners of the Marathon seats will receive a safety notification, along with a replacement top tether hook.

Oct 19, 2007 -- Children & Cars - Volvo Cars' manual about child safety - has been awarded "The best information manual in Sweden" in 2007. Thursday night the book with Volvo Cars' crash test dummies won the Swedish Publishing Award 2007 at a prize ceremony in Stockholm.

The jury motivated the award with the following:
"For an information manual that conveys a vital message with an ingenious metaphor."

"Brilliant news! And it is especially nice that the important message of the manual - how children may travel safer in cars - is being highlighted," says Malin Persson, Safety Communicator at Volvo Cars and editor of the book. It is designed by the agency Studio Desktop and Lars Ardarve is the photographer of the crash test dummies portrayed in real life situations.