NEW YORK (Jan. 17, 2013) – Did you know that three out of every four child car seats in the United States are not used or installed correctly?[1]  Or that almost 50 percent of children who are fatally injured in motor vehicle crashes were unrestrained?[2]  To address this alarming public health issue and encourage greater safety for child passengers, Toyota and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have teamed up to launch a national, online education campaign on Causes.com.  
 
Thecampaign – at www.Causes.com/Toyota – invites people to take action online: 

• Watch a short video with tips to properly install a child car seat
• Share the video with your friends and family

 
The campaign builds on the success of Toyota’s and Cincinnati Children’s groundbreaking Buckle Up for Life child safety program in communities. 
 
In recognition of everyone who participates in the campaign, Toyota will donate 10,000 child car seats to families in need.
 
“While cars and trucks today are safer than they’ve ever been, motor vehicle crashes are still the leading cause of death in the United States for children between the ages of one and 12,” said Patricia Salas Pineda, group vice president of National Philanthropy and the Toyota USA Foundation at Toyota Motor North America.  “Tragically, so many of these deaths and injuries could be avoided through the proper use of child car seats and seat belts.  We are pleased to be working with the visionary medical experts at Cincinnati Children’s to help empower parents and caregivers to make an even bigger difference in protecting young passengers, while also bringing thousands of new child car seats to families in need.”
 
“The goal of our partnership with Toyota has been to help keep as many children safe as possible and to educate families on the importance of properly buckling children up during every ride,” said Dr. Victor Garcia, founding director of Trauma Services at Cincinnati Children’s, professor of pediatric surgery and a co-founder of Buckle Up for Life.  “The campaign on Causes.com expands our ability to fulfill this vital mission and to reach even more people across America with information that saves lives.”
 
Toyota and Causes will host a live Twitter chat to help parents learn valuable tips about child passenger safety. The event will start on Jan. 22 at 2:00 p.m., ET, with certified child passenger safety technicians from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.  The technicians will be available to answer questions, in English and Spanish, about proper car seat installation and other ways to keep child passengers safe.  The chat will be hosted by Corinne McDermott, family travel expert, Huffington Post contributor, and founder of Have Baby Will Travel, a leading website offering travel tips for busy parents, which regularly addresses child safety issues.  Follow @Toyota and @causes and learn some great tips on how you can #BuckleUpforLife.
 

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