Ann Burton, Director
NYS SAFE KIDS Buckle Up Program
518-382-4520

Joseph Picchi
Communications
Department of Motor Vehicles
518-474-7000

Lt. Jamie Mills
New York State Police
581-457-2180

Albany, NY: February 16, 2000 - With the survivor of a rollover crash and her two children looking on, national, state and local child safety advocates today unveiled the latest tool to help parents buckle up their children properly.

Ann Burton, NYS Director of the SAFE KIDS Buckle Up Program/Sunnyview Hospital; Executive Director of the New York SAFE KIDS Network, joined with National SAFE KIDS Buckle Up Program Manager Karen DiCapua, Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner and Governor's Traffic Safety Committee Chair Richard E. Jackson, Jr., State Police Superintendent James W. McMahon, and Region II Administrator Thomas Louizou of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to announce the distribution of 10 child safety seat Mobile Educational Units, whose purpose is to help educate care givers as to the most effective way to safeguard their child passengers.

The 10, single-axle trailers are stocked with child safety seats, educational materials and other supplies essential to providing parents and their kids with the best chance of surviving a highway crash. Once distributed throughout the state, the trailers will also function as movable "fitting stations" - a portable version of the permanent fitting stations already popping up in various locales around New York State and elsewhere in the country.

Tom Louizou, Region II Administrator, NHTSA, Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner and Governor's Traffic Safety Committee Chair Richard E. Jackson, Jr., and State Police Superintendent James W. McMahon

"These mobile fitting stations will help us ensure that parents everywhere in New York have the opportunity to learn how to make their children as safe as possible when traveling," Burton said today. "The mobile units should complement our permanent fitting stations very well and give parents even greater access to the help and information they need."

The inception of this life-saving fitting station program was made possible through a partnership of the New York State SAFE KIDS Network, Governor George E. Pataki's Traffic Safety Committee and the New York State Police. "Governor George E. Pataki's Traffic Safety Committee places a high priority on ensuring the safety of our children. We are pleased to provide resources to support this worthwhile effort," said Commissioner Jackson. "We applaud the initiative taken by SAFE KIDS and the State Police, and their extraordinary efforts for expanding the availability of child safety seat checks."

Motor vehicle crashes are still the leading cause of accidental death among children ages 14 and under. Each year, over 1,775 children are killed as passengers in motor vehicle crashes, while another 274,000 are injured. Many of these traffic-related deaths and injuries could be avoided if parents and care givers properly installed their child safety seats.

"Nothing is more important than the protection of our children," Superintendent McMahon stated. "I credit Ann Burton for taking the initiative to support such an important effort. It's incomprehensible that adults continue to leave their children improperly restrained or unsecured altogether. By participating in this life-saving, educational program, we hope to minimize highway tragedies."

State Police Superintendent James W. McMahon, The Genovese Family, Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Richard E. Jackson, Jr. and Ann Burton, Director, NYS SAFE KIDS Buckle Up Program

Panel members were joined by Ms. Janet Genovese, who last year, within one week of attending a child safety seat check at Colonie Center, was involved in a rollover crash with her two children, ages two years old and three months old. Despite the violent crash, both children remained securely buckled in their car seats and escaped injury.

"Situations like this reinforce what we have been saying all along," said Tom Louizou, Region II Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "The only way to ensure that your child is fully protected in a crash is to have your child's car seat checked by a certified car seat technician."

On Thursday, February 17th, in observance of Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week, the Capital Region SAFE KIDS Coalition in conjunction with Albany County Traffic Safety Awareness Committee and Armory Center will be hosting a car seat check at Armory Center (Central and Colvin) in the service bay area from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. "We get a great deal of positive feedback from parents and care givers who attend these events," Burton said. "We know we're successful when we hear from someone like Janet Genovese."