Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Toyota Expand National Buckle Up for Life Program to Orange County

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 18, 2012 – Responding to disproportionate risks that African American and Hispanic children face in motor vehicle-related crashes, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Toyota and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center today announced the expansion of the groundbreaking safety education program Buckle Up for Life to Orange County (Calif.). Buckle Up for Life – or Abrochate a la Vida in Spanish – is the only national program of its kind.  This is the first time the program will be available in Orange County, joining seven other Buckle Up for Life locations nationwide. 

  Research analyzed by medical experts at Cincinnati Children’s – a national leader in pediatric and adolescent medicine – shows that, due to multiple factors, African American and Hispanic children are significantly less likely than non-African American and non-Hispanic children to be buckled up in seat belts or car seats.

  Key Facts

  ·        Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children in the U.S. between the ages of 1 and 12.[i]
·        Three out of every four car seats are not used or installed correctly[ii] and almost 50 percent of fatally injured children were unrestrained at the time of a crash.[iii]
·        African American and Hispanic children are as much as ten times more likely than Caucasian children to be unrestrained while traveling in a car. [iv]
·        In crashes involving fatalities in children under 14, seat belt use is lower among African Americans than among all other race or ethnic groups.^[v]
·        Hispanic children are significantly less likely to be buckled up than non-Hispanic children across all age groups.[vi]

  In one pilot city, Buckle Up for Life nearly tripled the number of children properly restrained in seat belts and car seats among the families who participated.[vii]  The program was founded and is jointly led by Cincinnati Children’s and Toyota, in coordination with local hospital partners, such as Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

  Toyota and local hospital partners are doubling the reach of Buckle Up for Life

  The expansion of Buckle Up for Life to Orange County is part of an effort by Toyota and Cincinnati Children’s to double the program’s reach.  The Orange County program joins other new programs in Las Vegas, Nev.; Philadelphia, Pa.; and Houston, Texas.  Buckle Up for Life programs are already in place with local hospital partners in Chicago; Cincinnati, Ohio; and San Antonio, Texas.  The program has also been deployed successfully in Los Angeles.

  Working in close coordination with local churches, Buckle Up for Life meets people in their own community.  The program’s experts work closely with local clergy to reach parents, caregivers and children with critical, interactive and culturally sensitive safety information and expanded access to car seats.

  Among the Orange County churches participating in the expansion of Buckle Up for Life are:

 

African American Churches:
Christ Our Redeemer African Methodist
46 Maxwell Street
Irvine, Calif.  92618

  Greater Light Missionary Baptist Church
1600 W. 3^rd Street
Santa Ana, Calif.  92703

  Second Baptist Church
4300 Westminster Avenue
Santa Ana, Calif.  92703

  Hispanic Churches:
West Coast Christian Tabernacle
309 N. Main Street
Santa Ana, Calif.  92701

  Our Lady of the Pillar
1622 W. 6^th Street
Santa Ana, Calif.  92703

“At Toyota, we are strongly committed to the belief that everyone deserves to be safe,” said Patricia Salas Pineda, group vice president of National Philanthropy and the Toyota USA Foundation at Toyota Motor North America.  “Through our educational outreach, Collaborative Safety Research Center and numerous partnerships with leading hospitals, nonprofits and research universities nationwide, Toyota is engaged extensively in programs that help ensure that drivers and passengers are safe at every stage of life.  Buckle Up for Life is a vital commitment for Toyota, and we are proud to be working with the visionary medical staff at Cincinnati Children’s, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and with local hospital partners across the country to expand its reach.”
 
“The Buckle Up for Life program is a safety program that helps save lives and reduce the number of injuries and deaths of children while riding in cars.” says Jeffrey S. Upperman, MD, director, Trauma Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.  “The Children's Hospital Los Angeles Injury Prevention Program is committed to safety and intervention throughout Southern California and beyond. By extending this program to Orange County, we can offer key safety intervention to a greater audience and keep more children safe."
 
Toyota’s support for Buckle Up for Life is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to help make local communities safer and stronger.  The company has contributed more than 600 million dollars to nonprofits throughout the United States over the past 20 years.

Courtesy of pressroom.toyota.com