General Motors Child Safety Seat Distribution
From Fall 1995Volume II, Number 3
At a July 6 press conference, Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña
announced plans for the distribution of the first $2 million in child safety
seats and administrative expenses resulting from a negotiated settlement
between General Motors and the United States Department of Transportation
over alleged safety defects and fire hazards in some GM pickup trucks. NHTSA
Administrator Ricardo Martinez stated, "The donation of these child
safety seats through prominent national organizations is estimated to save
50 lives, prevent approximately 6,000 injuries, and save $86 million."
Eligible organizations were identified through a request for proposals (RFP)
process. Organizations had to be national in scope, capable of distributing
seats within 120 days of the award, effective at reaching low-income families,
and able to provide education on proper use of child safety seats. The National
SAFE KIDS Campaign will receive $1.5 million for seats and administrative
expenses. SAFE KIDS will, in turn, provide child safety seats to the National
Safety Council, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the
State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association, who will
coordinate community distribution. The National Easter Seal Society will
receive a donation of $400,000 to focus on child safety seats and special
needs children, and $100,000 will go to the Safe America Foundation for
their Operation Baby Buckle campaign
(which was featured in the summer 1995 issue of Building Bridges). An additional
$6 million in child safety seats will be distributed over the next four
years.
Other provisions of the GM settlement include donations of almost $12 million
for the prevention of drunk driving and the strengthening and enforcement
of seat belt laws, and approximately $31.5 million for research on topics
including fire safety, the treatment of burns and trauma, human factors,
and biomechanics. For more information on the GM settlement, contact Barry
McCahill at NHTSA, (202) 366-9550. For further information on the RFP process
leading to donations of child safety seats, contact Susan Gorcowski, National
Organizations Division, NTS-11, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington,
DC 20590. Phone (202) 366-2712.
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Revised: October 22, 1996
