NTSB CHAIRMAN PRAISES NATIONAL AIR BAG AND SEAT BELT SAFETY CAMPAIGN

[NTSB Press Releases <NTSBPressReleases@xxxxxxxx>]

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                      NTSB PRESS RELEASE
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National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 27, 2007	
SB-07-58

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NTSB CHAIRMAN PRAISES NATIONAL AIR BAG AND SEAT BELT SAFETY 
CAMPAIGN 

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Washington, DC -- National Transportation Safety Board 
Chairman Mark V. Rosenker praised the National Safety 
Council's Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign, which will 
cease operations at the end of this year, for advocating 
primary enforcement seat belt laws, and for its leadership 
in improving passenger safety.  The Campaign was founded in 
response to 1995 Safety Board recommendations that asked 
automobile manufacturers to warn parents of the dangers that 
air bags posed to children. 
   
"The Campaign has been a remarkable example of a public-
private partnership, including the Safety Board, other 
federal agencies and the private sector working as a team to 
advance air bag safety and increase safety belt use," 
Rosenker said.  "They have been instrumental in creating 
public awareness and change on our highways.  I congratulate 
them on their of success in furthering vehicle occupant 
safety."

During its decade long existence, the Campaign assisted in 
bringing about a cultural shift in the way children 12 and 
under are transported in vehicles - in a rear seat.  "This 
is one of the most successful changes in societal behavior 
in recent decades, rivaling changes in attitudes toward 
smoking and drunk driving," Rosenker said.

The campaign also spearheaded national adoption of the Click 
It or Ticket program and fostered a massive national annual 
law enforcement mobilization to enforce seat belt use laws. 
 Their initiatives have helped to achieve a national seat 
belt use rate of more than 82 percent, a 21-percentage-point 
increase. 

Furthermore, the Campaign's efforts led to adoption of 
primary enforcement seat belt use laws in more states; these 
laws now cover about two-thirds of the U.S. population, 
compared to less than 40 percent when the Campaign began.  

"The Campaign's work has made a tremendous impact on our 
roadways and has saved countless lives," Rosenker said.  
"But we cannot rest on this success.  We all must continue 
to put safety first on our highway."

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NTSB Media Contact:  Terry N. Williams
                           (202) 314-6126
                            williat@xxxxxxxx









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