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MillerWhite's
interactive capabilities contribute to improved Child Vehicle
Safety Law
April 14, 2004
Indiana lawmakers recently approved a bill requiring
all children aged 4 to 8 to be restrained by federally approved
child restraints while traveling in motor vehicles. Judith Gearlds,
Project Manager for the Automotive Safety Program of the Indiana
University School of Medicine at Riley Children's Hospital, believes
this legislation will help to reduce the number of vehicle occupant
injuries and deaths in this age group. And among the many who
contributed to educating the public about the importance of booster
seat use, Gearlds includes MillerWhite, LLC.
"There was a misperception that requiring children up to age 8 to be in a child
restraint seat could create a hardship for large families," Gearlds said. "In
response to this concern, MillerWhite produced a CD/online video which clearly
demonstrates that large families would not be adversely impacted by the proposed
bill."
Currently, Indiana's law requires children 4 years old and younger to be restrained
in a child safety seat. Unfortunately, after the child reaches 4 years of age,
many caregivers move them out of child safety seats and buckle them into standard
vehicle safety belts, not realizing that these are designed to protect older
children and adults. Gearlds said. "For children ages 4 to 8 who weigh 40 to
80 pounds, a belt-positioning booster seat is needed so the vehicle seat belt
fits properly and provides the best protection in a crash."
The video shows a family with six young children safely buckling into their
combination of harnessed safety seats, highback boosters and backless boosters
in the family SUV. MillerWhite did the taping, editing and audio work to produce
a valuable educational tool.
Norbert Yates, MillerWhite's video producer, said, "We filmed the family on
the coldest day in January, and the kids were great, even when they had to
get in and out of the car for many different takes. We were able to show the
safest ways to buckle all the children into the car."
Bill White, a MillerWhite partner in charge of the interactive video production,
said, "We're happy to help Automotive Safety Program in its effort to
keep kids safer. We'll be working with them to develop a public service announcement
from the video presentation that will further educate the public about using
booster and child restraint seats."
The new law will go into effect in July 2005, giving the public and law enforcement
time to become educated about its requirements, and for retailers to stock
the appropriate number of the affected child restraints, Gearlds said.
MillerWhite provides integrated marketing/research, advertising, public relations
and interactive media services to its clients from offices in Terre Haute and
Indianapolis.
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