State Farm Works with Parents on Child Passenger Safety, Cutting Down on Accidents

State Farm is reinforcing its ongoing commitment to child passenger safety by hosting its fifth annual Child Safety Day at more than 120 locations across the country on various dates throughout May to educate parents and anyone who has children in their vehicles about the importance of properly buckling up kids. Events will also be held throughout the country during September.

While motor vehicle crashes are the leading killer of children over age one in the United States, many of these tragedies could reportedly be avoided through appropriate safety restraint use.

Child Safety Day focuses on the significance of car seats, booster seats and seat belts for children riding in motor vehicles. Additionally, it promotes the critical message that age appropriate restraint and rear seating provide the best protection for children in motor vehicle crashes.

“Those of us who are parents want our children protected as well as possible when they’re passengers,” said Susan Hood, Claims vice president, State Farm Insurance Companies. “By hosting these Child Safety Day events, State Farm continues its commitment to child passenger safety by providing necessary resources to educate parents on the proper safety practices for children riding in cars.”

Safety experts report that 72 percent of child safety seats are misused. Furthermore, some parents do not reportedly realize that children ages 4 to 8 are too young to use adult seat belts.

During Child Safety Day, local certified technicians will teach parents how to correctly use booster seats, car seats and seat belts. State Farm Community Volunteers will be on hand to provide assistance. This year, State Farm developed a grant program with MANA, a National Latina Organization, to address the need for Spanish-speaking child passenger safety technicians at Child Safety Day events across the country.

In addition, parents can have their child safety seats and booster seats inspected onsite for free. During the past four years, more than 37,000 safety seats and booster seats have been inspected at State Farm’s Child Safety Day events.

Child passenger safety isn’t the only topic covered at Child Safety Day; some cities host events that cover other child safety related topics, including bike safety, 911/0 emergency safety and child identification safety. Local organizations, such as fire departments, police departments, hospitals and the American Red Cross, will help State Farm several educational activities:

This summer, State Farm will release a new national television ad aimed at promoting child passenger safety. The 30-second spot features a family reenacting a compelling, real-life State Farm story. In 2003, a family from Pennsylvania attended their local Child Safety Day event and had their children’s two safety seats checked by certified technicians. Shortly after they left, the family experienced a rollover accident. At the time of the accident, the mother was driving her two parents and two children in her SUV.

The mother lost control of the vehicle and flipped over the SUV so the vehicle was resting on its roof. Fearing her children were injured in the crash, the mother scanned the scene until she discovered her kids were hanging upside-down from the back seat, safely secured in their child safety seats. To this day, the mother claims the car seat safety check at State Farm’s Child Safety Day saved the lives of her two precious children.

For more information and to locate upcoming Child Safety Day events, visit http://www.statefarm.com/kidsafety.htm.