MMNA and Kids Safety First kicked off the initiative at three Dallas-area Don Herring Mitsubishi locations in late June in an effort to educate parents about the importance of booster seat usage. By working with Mitsubishi car dealerships, local police and health departments within 10 selected test markets, Kids Safety First sought to provide community members with booster seat demonstrations and advice, and to raise booster seat usage by offering free seats to parents with children between the ages of 4 and 8, weighing between 35 and 80 pounds.

In addition to the more than 7,400 booster seats that were given away directly to consumers and donated to local charities, Kids Safety First provided thousands of copies of its bilingual educational materials (e.g., safety guideline cards, coloring books, stickers, etc.), which aim to educate parents and children about proper car seat safety.

Although many state laws only require children to be in a safety seat up to age 4, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends children between the ages of 4 and 8 or weighing between 35 and 80 lbs should use a booster seat for safety purposes.

According to a 2002 study by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), children between the ages of 4 and 8 who ride in booster seats are 59 percent less likely to be injured in a car crash than children who are restrained only by a safety belt. However, only 21 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 8 rode in booster seats, according to the 2003 Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey.

The booster seat giveaways received positive reactions from members of the community, as well as dealership participants. "The event was a huge success -- I'm very proud of our employees who worked hard to pull this off," said Mike Graeber, President of San Bernardino Mitsubishi in San Bernardino, CA. Other dealer participants in the Kids Safety First Booster Seat Awareness Initiative included: Bell Mitsubishi (Rahway, NJ); Biggers Mitsubishi (Elgin, IL); City Mitsubishi (Jacksonville, FL); Hernando Mitsubishi (Spring Hill, FL); Mark Mitsubishi (Scottsdale, AZ); Medina Mitsubishi (Medina, OH); Metro Mitsubishi (Bloomington, MN); RC Hill Mitsubishi (DeLand, FL); and Schaumburg Mitsubishi (Schaumburg, IL).

"This is a very important issue to Kids Safety First and to Mitsubishi Motors, and we are delighted that these events were well received by our dealers and their respective communities," said Dan Kuhnert, executive vice president of sales and marketing at MMNA. "Anything we can do to support a message of safety in our dealer communities is a valuable initiative. We look forward to expanding this effort and bringing it to more dealerships in the near future."

Kids Safety First is preparing to provide an additional 12,000 booster seats in January, which will be distributed at Mitsubishi dealerships throughout 2008. MMNA and Kids Safety First also plan to distribute booster seat educational materials at Mitsubishi booths during upcoming auto shows, while offering consumers additional opportunities to obtain free booster seats.


Press release via Mitsubishi