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Ford Reminds Customers There's 'No Excuse' for Not Buckling Up

13 January 2000

Ford Motor Company Reminds Customers There's 'No Excuse' for Not Buckling Up

    DETROIT, Jan. 12 -- Three out of every four fatal crashes
occur within 25 miles of a person's home.  But still, one of the most common
reasons given for not wearing a seat belt is, "I'm just going around the
block."
    Ford Motor Company this year will reach almost one million auto
show visitors with a strong message that there is no excuse for not wearing
safety belts.  The company is distributing a new brochure called "What's Your
Excuse?" at auto shows throughout the United States.  In total, the brochure
will be handed out at more than 80 shows during the next year.
    Nearly 80 percent of people who visit auto shows plan on buying or leasing
a new vehicle, research shows.
    "Wearing safety belts is the single most important thing a person can do
to protect themselves in an automobile," says Lou Camp, director of Ford Motor
Company's Automotive Safety Office.  "We want to send out the message to
buckle up as early as we can in the buying process."
    The brochure takes the most common reasons given for not wearing safety
belts and offers an alternative reason why people should buckle up.
    One common reason given for not wearing belts is "traffic is light."  The
brochure explains that nearly one of every two traffic deaths occurs in
single-vehicle crashes, many when no other vehicles are around.
    Another U.S. statistic included is that safety belts, when used properly,
reduce risk of death to front-seat occupants by 45 percent in cars and 60
percent in light trucks.
    The "What's Your Excuse?" brochure is one of a broad range of efforts Ford
undertakes to help increase the use of safety belts in the United States.
    The company offers a unique system called BeltMinder(TM) beginning in all
its 2000 model year Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles.  The BeltMinder(TM)
system has a safety-belt usage sensor in the belt buckle that determines
whether a driver is buckled up.  The sensor feeds this information to a
control module, and if a driver is unbelted when the vehicle is in motion, a
light in the instrument panel will illuminate and a chime will intermittently
sound to remind customers to use their safety belts.  The system is briefly
activated at 30-second intervals during a five-minute period.
    In addition, Ford Motor Company is a sponsor of Operation ABC, a national
program designed to build belt usage.  And Ford Division is in partnership
with the Children's Television Workshop to bring the "Buckle Up with Sesame
Street" safety tour to cities around the United States.
    Through song and dance, "Buckle Up with Sesame Street" uses three popular
characters from Sesame Street to teach kids and parents about safe seating and
the importance of wearing safety belts.