A Virtual Car Seat Demonstration In Your Own Home With www.chop.edu/carseat

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 15, 2004 -- The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announces a new child passenger safety Web site as a holiday gift to parents. Just in time for the hectic and often dangerous holiday travel period, http://www.chop.edu/carseat features short videos and comprehensive information to help parents protect children of all ages when they ride in vehicles - from installing child safety seats to reinforcing safe driving habits for teens.

The new online resource draws on experience from Partners for Child Passenger Safety, a research partnership of Children's Hospital and State Farm(R) that is the nation's largest study of children in crashes. Since 1997, more than 300,000 State Farm customers have shared their crash experiences with Children's Hospital researchers who are then able to determine the best ways to protect the nation's children and save children's lives.

"With this Web site, we want to provide families with the most current information on how to protect children in motor vehicles in the way parents want it, when they want it most - in their own homes before they get on the road," says Flaura Winston, M.D., Ph.D., scientific director of TraumaLink, the pediatric injury research center at Children's Hospital that conducts the PCPS study. "Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for our nation's children. Proper use of child restraints is vital." PCPS research shows that only 65 percent of children under age 9 are using age and size- appropriate restraints and other research has shown extremely high rates of misuse of those restraints.

"On average, there are approximately 10% more collision claims reported during December than the other months," according to Susan Hood, Claims Vice President at State Farm. "In order to prevent hectic holiday travel from turning into tragedy, we urge parents to buckle up their families every trip they make," says Ms. Hood.

Multi-media features of http://www.chop.edu/carseat provide information in several formats. Short videos allow users to go directly to a topic that pertains to their specific needs. Parents can see and hear information and car seat installation tips pertaining to infants, toddlers, 4- to 8-year-olds, LATCH as well as airbags. Each video is interactive, allowing users to pause or review certain sections. The Web site includes a section on car safety for older children and teens. For each stage of child development, sections are available and printable in comprehensive and abridged formats.

Special sections about buying a safe car, free safety seat checkpoints and special travel circumstances address topics for which parents often need quick answers.

"We know busy parents are short on time," says Dr. Winston. "We wanted it to be very easy for parents to find information quickly for their immediate concerns but also provide comprehensive information when they have time to browse and research."

Children's Hospital encourages other Web sites and organizations to link to the educational site so that as many parents as possible can utilize the information.

Founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is ranked today as the best pediatric hospital in the nation by U.S.News & World Report and Child magazines. Through its long- standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking second in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 430-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents from before birth through age 19. Children's Hospital operates the largest pediatric healthcare system in the U.S. with more than 40 locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

State Farm(R) insures more cars than any other insurer in North America and is the leading U.S. home insurer. State Farm's 17,000 agents and 71,000 employees serve nearly 73 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada. State Farm also offers financial services products through State Farm Bank(R). State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No.18 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com(R) or in Canada statefarm.ca.