Car Seat safety event to address urgent need for Hispanic families
Corazón de mi vida provides families with knowledge and tools to protect their kids
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2010
Contacts:
Mike Switzer 614-249-4092
switzem1@nationwide.com
Columbus, OH – According to the National Latino Children’s Institute, Young Latinos are twice as likely to die in a traffic crash than their non-Hispanic white counterparts, even though Latinos drive half as many miles as whites. The primary reasons for this are lack of car safety seats and safety belt use.
To address this startling statistic, the National Latino Children’s Institute partnered with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Nationwide Insurance to create Corazón de mi vida, a program designed to encourage the proper use of child safety restraints among Hispanic families.
Nationwide Insurance will be hosting a Corazón de mi vida event at El Dia de Los Niños festival at Glennwood United Methodist Church in Columbus on May 1. At the child car safety event, technicians will be installing car seats into the vehicles of local Hispanic families invited by the Ohio Hispanic Coalition. Families will attend a brief car seat safety course about the proper use and installation of child safety restraints.
“Car seat safety is important for families of all backgrounds,” said
Fransisco Matheus , a Columbus-based Nationwide Insurance agent. “Many
families do not understand that there is more to it than simply having a
car seat. Proper installation and use are critical. Corazón de mi
vida provides families with the tools to help them be confident they
are doing everything they can to protect their children.”
Corazón de mi vida asks parents to remember four basic
car seat safety rules, which provide good rules of thumb for all
parents:
• Children who are less than one year old or weigh less than 20 pounds
should always travel in a rear-facing safety seat placed in the back
seat.
• Children should ride rear-facing until they reach the highest weight
and height allowed by the car seat. If the child is at least one year old
and weighs 20 – 40 pounds, they should always travel in the back seat in
a forward facing safety seat.
• If the child weighs more than 40 pounds but is less than four feet,
nine inches tall, they should travel in a belt-positioning booster seat
placed in the back seat to ensure that the seat belt will fit
correctly.
• When children are at least four feet, nine inches tall and under the
age of thirteen, they should always travel in the back seat. Parents
should always make sure to buckle them in correctly.
El Dia de los Niños festival will take place on May 1 at Glennwood Methodist Church, 2833 Valleyview Dr., Columbus 43204. The Corazón de mi vida event will take place at the same location from 9:00 AM – 3 PM.
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