Awards

Award title
Fuel Cells: Driving the Future won Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Innovation Prize
2006 JA Impact Award
Best Education web site
2005 Bronze SABRE Award

Safe Kids Worldwide 

General Motors announced the continuation of its 10-year partnership with Safe Kids Worldwide (formerly the National SAFE KIDS Campaign) to implement the industry-leading Safe Kids Buckle Up program.  Over the next three, years the General Motors Foundation will contribute $11.4 million, including up to 18 vehicles to Safe Kids Buckle Up.  Countless lives have been saved and injuries prevented as a result of this innovative and far-reaching program.  Safe Kids Buckle Up addresses a significant public health problem in the United States, motor vehicle crashes, which are the leading cause of death among children ages three to 14.

Safe Kids Buckle Up is a multifaceted national program bringing passenger safety messages to children and families through community and dealer partnerships.  More than 600 local Safe Kids coalitions and chapters have access to this life saving program.  GM has served as the exclusive funding source of Safe Kids Buckle Up since 1996, and Chevrolet became the lead partner in October, 2004.

Since the program's inception, more than 13 million people have been touched by Safe Kids Buckle Up events and community outreach efforts.  Child passenger safety experts have examined more than 800,000 seats for proper installation and have donated more than 350,000 seats to families in need.  Tens of millions of people have been exposed to child passenger safety messages through public service announcements, educational videos, brochures, video news releases, and other materials.  The Safe Kids Buckle Up program includes:

Child Safety Seat Check Up Events:  Safe Kids coalitions nationwide, in partnership with GM dealerships and other community organizations, host public events that teach parents and caregivers to use child safety seats and safety belts correctly.  More than 20,000 events have taken place in the past 10 years.

Mobile Car Seat Check Up Vans:  A unique aspect of the program is the nationwide fleet of 119 Chevrolet Express and Venture vans donated by GM.  These are used by Safe Kids coalitions to conduct community-based child safety seat checks in underserved areas.  The vans are stocked with all the necessary equipment to conduct an inspection, including seats to give to low-income households or to replace recalled or damaged seats.  The vans make it possible to bring the message directly to the public at children's stores, shopping centers, fairs, and other venues.

Child Safety Inspection Stations:  Thirty-four Safe Kids coalitions conduct child safety seat inspections at 75 permanent locations with regular hours.  Fifteen inspection stations are housed at General Motors dealerships.

Child Safety Seat Distribution Program:  Safe Kids and General Motors have distributed 300,000 child safety seats to families in need.  More than half of those seats were distributed through partnerships with the NAACP and the National Council of La Raza.

State Legislation:  A Safe Kids study revealed startling deficiencies in state child passenger safety laws and has led to 35 states and the District of Columbia enacting booster seat laws to require that older children use appropriate child safety seats.

Safe Kids Buckle Up Highlights

In addition to hundreds of thousands of child seat inspections and van and child safety seat donations, Safe Kids Buckle Up also features:

Special Events

Child Passenger Safety Week – Child Passenger Safety Week is an annual national campaign that focuses attention on the use of child safety seats and safety belts.  Inspection events were held at Chevrolet dealers in celebration of CPS Week.

National Automobile Dealers Association’s Child Safety Month - Safe Kids Buckle Up and Chevrolet conducted more than 200 inspection events during September 2005 as part of Child Safety Month sponsored by the National Automobile Dealers Association. The kickoff was held in Miami and was staffed with bilingual technicians to educate Spanish-speaking families with in-language educational materials.

NASCAR — In February 2005, Chevrolet leveraged its relationship with NASCAR driver Jeff Burton to film a Safe Kids public service announcement encouraging parents to learn how to correctly install their child’s seat.  In order to reach fans at NASCAR events, Chevrolet funded a Safe Kids exhibit that is set up at races.  The display is configured like a garage, staffed with Safe Kids experts as the “pit crew” to entertain kids and educate their parents.

Non-crash related safety activities

Never Leave Your Child Alone - More than 275 children have died of heatstroke in the last decade after being left in parked cars.  Even in mild weather, the interior of a parked car can rise to dangerous temperatures in just a few minutes.  The “Never Leave Your Child Alone” campaign consists of interactive displays that show temperatures inside and outside a vehicle; they can differ by as much as 70 degrees.  The exhibit also demonstrates the startling speed at which a vehicle’s temperature rises from comfortable to deadly.  These displays are used at various events, such as NASCAR races and state fairs, and by local weather forecasters to educate and inform parents and caregivers about the dangers of leaving children unattended in a vehicle. 

Research

Safe Kids has conducted extensive research on the attitudes, knowledge, and behavior of parents in relation to child safety seats.  The results of this research have given the child passenger safety community vital information that guides Safe Kids Buckle Up’s programs, legislative campaigns, and resources for parents.

Educational materials

Safe Kids has created a wealth of materials designed to educate parents and caregivers on safety in and around vehicles.  Age-specific child restraint brochures, videos, public service announcements, children’s activity books, and informational posters are provided to local community groups, schools, day care centers, and pediatricians’ offices by the more than 600 Safe Kids coalitions and chapters across the United States.

Child Passenger Safety Technical Training

Safe Kids Worldwide is the certifying body for the 27,000 child safety seat technicians in the United States.  Safe Kids coalitions have conducted approximately 4,000 sessions ranging from two-hour awareness classes to 32-hour technician certification courses.

Information Hotline

Parents and caregivers receive free bilingual Safe Kids Buckle Up materials and find child safety seat inspections in their area by calling (800) 441-1888 or visiting www.usa.safekids.org.  The web site provides an interactive Child Safety Seat Guide along with safety tips, statistics, and more.