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Nissan Backs Enforcement of Seat Belt Laws

27 November 1998

Nissan Backs National Campaign to Buckle up Children

            As Major Funder, Nissan Joins Over 1,000 Groups Giving
                     Their 'Endorsement for Enforcement'

    CARSON, Calif., Nov. 25 -- Nissan today announced its
official support of a national mobilization this Thanksgiving to protect
children by stepping up enforcement of child passenger-safety laws.
    More than 5,000 law enforcement agencies across the nation are conducting
the second 1998 wave of the Operation ABC Mobilization: America Buckles Up
Children -- the largest ever coordinated crackdown on drivers who don't buckle
up children.  Nissan joins over 1,000 organizations nationwide that endorse
the intensive, 50-state lifesaving enforcement effort.
    "Tens of thousands of law enforcement officers in all 50 states will be
out in force protecting children from the greatest danger they face -- being
unrestrained in a crash," said Janet Dewey, executive director of the Air Bag
& Seat Belt Safety Campaign, sponsor of the Operation ABC Mobilization.  "We
know these officers are energized by the ground swell of support from
organizations across the country like Nissan."
    A Nissan spokesman said the vehicle manufacturer stands firmly behind the
lifesaving message. "Nissan is not only an automobile manufacturer, we're
parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who want to protect our children,"
said Jason Vines, Nissan North America's vice president of corporate
communications.  "The Operation ABC Mobilization is the kind of broad
community-based movement our nation needs to save children's lives."
    The Thanksgiving Operation ABC Mobilization comes on the heels of an
extremely successful Mobilization last Memorial Day.  The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration's observational surveys before and after May's
Mobilization showed 6-million more people buckling up.  This translates into
an estimated 670 lives saved each year through continued seat belt usage.  In
addition, a survey by the National Safety Council showed fatalities decreased
more than 35 percent during the Mobilization/Memorial Day period.
    "The impact of the last Operation ABC Mobilization clearly illustrates
that high-visibility enforcement works," Vines said.  "We hope officers can
expand the Mobilization's success and, once again, save lives and reinforce
the clear message to America:  The law requires that children be buckled up at
all times."
    Crashes are the leading cause of death to American children.  Last year,
nearly 2,100 children died nationally in crashes.  As many as 1,244 of those
children were totally unbuckled.
    Studies consistently show that the best way to get children buckled up is
to get adults buckled up.  According to data, when a driver buckles up,
children are buckled up 87 percent of the time. However, when a driver is
unbuckled, child belt use drops to 24 percent.  A recent study by the
University of California, Irvine, reported in the journal Pediatrics, found
that driver restraint use was the strongest predictor of child restraint use
and a restrained driver was three times more likely to restrain a child.  That
is why, increasingly, officers are strengthening enforcement of adult belt
laws during the Operation ABC Mobilization.
    A survey of parents with infants shows that parents who don't buckle up
are more likely to improperly place babies in the front seat, leaving them at
serious risk of being injured or killed by an air bag.  According to
investigations, almost all of the children who have died from air bag related
injuries were completely unrestrained, improperly restrained or were infants
riding in a rear-facing infant seat.
    "In addition to getting kids buckled up, we must get the word out to
parents that all children 12 and under belong properly buckled up in the back
seat -- especially in a vehicle equipped with air bags," Dewey said.  The
Mobilization also seeks to reach part-time seat belt users.  "Some people
believe they secure their children, but they don't actually buckle them up on
every trip, particularly the short trips," Dewey added.  "Most crashes happen
within a few miles from home.  That's why it's so important to secure everyone
in the vehicle every time and on every trip."
    Nissan has invested more than $2 billion in the United States to establish
facilities for its design, research and development, manufacturing, sales,
consumer and corporate financing, and marketing operations.  Nearly 70 percent
of the Nissan trucks and cars sold in America are built in America.  Last
year, Nissan purchased more than $4.2 billion in parts and materials from
U.S.-based suppliers.
    Nissan employs more than 70,000 Americans, approximately 12,000 directly
and 58,000 at 1,250 Nissan and Infiniti retailers nationwide.  More
information about Nissan North America, Inc. and the complete line of Nissan
and Infiniti vehicles can be found on-line at http://www.nissan-na.com.