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American Morning

Safety Campaign Commences to Promote Booster Seats in Autos

Aired April 30, 2001 - 10:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Another safety campaign kicks into high gear this hour as the federal government teams up with private industry to promote the use of car booster seats. It's a $30 million campaign and it is funded exclusively by private industry. Its purpose, to educate the public about the use of safety seats for kids between the ages of four and eight.

Our Patty Davis joining us now with a closer look at the issue that we'll soon be hearing much more about.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, only three states -- Arkansas, California, Washington State -- require that booster seats be used in the back seats of cars. So this Boost America is meant to make that the norm nationwide. As you just said, a $30 million campaign, and it is funded mostly by Ford. It's education. It is advertising as well as giving away a million seats, these booster seats, over the next year, half of them through the United Way to low income, and then half to those who own Ford vehicles.

Now, the booster seats are meant for children who have graduated from those infant or those toddler safety seats. So they don't fit in them anymore. They're in the back seat. They're using, they're being restrained by adult lap belts and these experts here say that this is just not good enough, that it's not good enough to keep those children safe in the event of a crash.

So the booster seats lift them up. Children aged four to 80, 40 to 80 pounds, lift them up a bit and place them better into those adult seatbelts so that they're better protected, that they don't fly out of the seatbelts.

This group says that these booster seats are the least used safety device for children and they are working to change that. They say that a new survey that was done for them, 88 percent of adults and caregivers have heard of using these child booster seats, but only 12 percent actually use them.

Daryn, there's a press conference just about to start. Jacques Nasser, also, Norman Mineta, head of the Department of Transportation. You have more on that.

KAGAN: Absolutely, Patty. Thank you so much.

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