PRESS RELEASE
Auto Insurer Announces Delivery of 175,000 Air Bag Safety Videos
22 January 1997
USAA Delivers 'Kids and Air Bags' Safety Video to 175,000
SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 21 -- Beginning this week, more than
175,000 USAA policyholders will receive a copy of "Kids and Air Bags," a free
informational video on the dangers of placing children in the front seat of
vehicles with passenger-side air bags.
The five-minute tape, produced by the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety (IIHS), and the USAA-produced "Fasten Sense" brochure will be sent to
all USAA members with children five years and younger, according to Gloria
Craven, USAA assistant vice president of National Programs.
"We want our policyholders to know that air bags are a vital component of
any auto safety system. But children, being smaller and lighter, can be at
risk from a deploying air bag," Craven says. "This video will help parents
avoid that risk.
"The solution," she adds, "is to have children 12 and under ride in the
back seat, properly restrained in a child safety seat or by a seat belt."
USAA will also mail the video and brochure to the 25 largest child day
care facilities in San Antonio. This encompasses 244 locations with a total
licensed child capacity of more than 25,000. In addition, copies will be
mailed to U.S. military bases worldwide.
While air bags have saved more than 1,600 lives to date, IIHS studies show
more than 54 people, including some infants and children, are reported to have
died from airbag inflation injuries, some in low-severity crashes. All of
these children were riding in the front passenger seat. With very few
exceptions, they were not properly restrained with lap and shoulder belts or
with a child safety or booster seat.
Another vital element in protecting younger passengers is proper
installation of child safety seats. Used properly, child safety seats reduce
fatal injuries by 69 percent for infants and 47 percent for toddlers,
according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The USAA mailing of the "Kids and Air Bags" video and "Fasten Sense"
brochure will span a period of three weeks in January. Copies of both will
also be sent to the Governor's Highway Safety office in all 50 states. Non-
USAA policyholders who view the tape and read the brochure are invited to call
their Governor's Highway Safety representative or USAA's National Program at
(210) 498-8528 for more information. San Antonio area residents may borrow
copies of the video from the San Antonio Public Library.
"We want to give this vital information as wide a distribution as
possible," Craven says. "Everyone needs to know about air bag safety issues
and the correct use of child safety seats and safety belts.
"USAA believes strongly in air bags," Craven adds. "In fact, just last
week we announced a special benefit package related to that fact. We will pay
$25,000 to the estates of fatally injured occupants of USAA-insured autos who
are properly belted in a seat protected by an operable air bag. We firmly
believe our insureds life safety depends on the proper use of these devices."
USAA, the nation's fifth-largest insurer of private vehicles, primarily
serves the military family with a wide variety of insurance and financial
products and services. Founded in San Antonio in 1922, USAA this year
celebrates its 75th anniversary serving the U.S. armed forces and their
families.
CONTACT: Richard Erickson of USAA, 210-498-2176, or 210-698-3080
