Mitsubishi Motors Employees Form Non-Profit Kids Safety First to Fill Need for Automotive Safety Education Materials

TUSTIN, Calif.--Jorgen Weterrings and PK Shrivastava collectively have over 35 years of experience in automotive technology and safety. As parents of young children, these Mitsubishi employees experienced first hand the confusion parents often face in selecting and using the right child safety seats as their children grow and age. So, in 2004 they did something about it – they formed the CA based 501©(3) organization Kids Safety First (KSF). KSF is a small, all volunteer, grassroots, non-profit organization that provides free automotive child safety materials to police, fire and rescue, schools and pre-natal centers throughout the United States.

“We were frustrated by our continuing experiences with parents and caregivers who did not know the correct way to restrain their children and who were also not fully aware of the dangers presented by airbags to infants and children if placed in the front passenger seat of an airbag equipped vehicle,” said Jorgen Weterrings, Co-Founder and President of KSF and Director of Product Legal Affairs for Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. in Cypress, CA.

Weterring’s 92-year-old father, a former Walt Disney animator, created the illustrations for the program, including:

• A guideline card in English and Spanish;
• A poster in English and Spanish;
• A detailed website – www.kidssafetyfirst.org (in English, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese)
• A coloring book;
• Stickers, and
• T-shirts.

The program also includes a video in both English and Spanish and all materials are currently being translated into Chinese by the Irvine, CA Police Department. Weterrings and Shrivastava worked in conjunction with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to develop the materials.

“We are pleased that through generous donations provided by a number of private corporations, Kids Safety First has distributed over a million sets of materials in 25 states to date,” says PK Shrivastava, Co-Founder and Vice President of KSF and Manager of Engineering and Technical Support for Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.

For additional information including complete bios and photos of Weterrings and Shrivastava please visit kidssafetyfirst.org.