Sponsors
General Motors - Chevrolet

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General Motors is 100 percent committed to safety in the vehicle, safety on the road, safety in every community. We want to make sure the main beneficiaries of our efforts continue to be our greatest assets—our children.”

Roderick D. Gillum
Vice President, Corporate Responsibility and Diversity and Chairman of the General Motors Foundation

In 1996, the National SAFE KIDS Campaign (now Safe Kids Worldwide) and General Motors developed a way for automakers and dealerships to play a significant part in Safe Kids’ goal of eliminating accidental childhood injury. The challenge was immense: Motor vehicle crashes kill and injure more children than any other type of accidental injury. Working together, a multimillion dollar partnership called Safe Kids Buckle Up was created. The objective of the program was simple and effective; make child passenger safety education and hands-on assistance available to all parents who want to learn how to properly transport their children.

In 1999, Safe Kids and General Motors extended their alliance to include the United Auto Workers, the National Council of La Raza and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in support of General Colin Powell’s initiative America’s Promise.  America’s Promise was developed to assist Hispanic and African-American families in need, recognizing that people of color in the United States face increased risks on our highways.

In 2004, Chevrolet became the lead brand in the Safe Kids Buckle Up partnership. Through its 2,400 dealerships, the combined efforts of Safe Kids and Chevrolet will continue to decrease the number of children ages 14 and under injured or killed in motor vehicles. 

Chevrolet is the largest division of General Motors and has introduced the Safe Kids Buckle Up message to families across America through its affiliations with NASCAR, Auto Show In Motion, 100 Black Men of America, NCLR, NAACP and other outreach programs.  Linking Safe Kids expertise with Chevrolet’s standing as America’s brand makes our partnership one that can reach families in virtually every community across the country to make the entire family travel experience as safe as it can be.

In August 2006, Safe Kids Buckle Up celebrated 10 years of progress in child passenger safety outreach and education. The program has evolved to include children’s safety in and around cars as well as traditional child passenger safety education. New initiatives such as Spot the Tot and the Automotive Safety Patch program have been introduced to address the emerging public heath problems of injury prevention in driveways and booster seat use. 

Over the past decade, the program and partnership have been recognized with the Public Relations Society of America’s Silver Anvil Award (1999); the National Transportation Safety Board’s Special Act Award (2000) and Safety Leadership Award (2006); and the Community Service Award from the New York Auto Show World Traffic Safety Symposium (2006). Most importantly, Safe Kids coalitions and chapters have inspected approximately 875,000 child safety seats and given hands on training to more than 13 million parents and caregivers through the Buckle Up partnership. Additionally, GM has donated more than 365,000 child safety seats to families in need.

Safe Kids has been instrumental in passing and improving child passenger safety legislation across the country. Every state plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico has a child safety seat law and 38 states and D.C. now have booster seat laws to help keep kids safer.

General Motors has generously donated more than $50 million and 119 vehicles to support Safe Kids coalitions and chapters in providing community-based injury prevention education throughout America. Through the support of GM and Chevrolet, Safe Kids Buckle Up has grown to be the largest program of Safe Kids Worldwide. 

During the summer of 2006, the General Motors Foundation committed another $11.4 million and an additional 18 mobile car seat check-up vans over the next three years to continue to expand the reach of the program.

About General Motors - Chevrolet

General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader for 75 years.  Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 327,000 people around the world.  With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries.  In 2005, 9.17 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, and Vauxhall.

Chevrolet is one of America’s most well-known and successful automotive brands.  With the largest dealer network in the United States, Chevy is the leader in full-size trucks and the leader in sales of vehicles priced $35,000 and above.  In addition, Chevrolet delivers more-than-expected value in every vehicle category, offering cars and trucks priced from $9,995 to $52,000.  Chevy has more vehicles than any other manufacturer that provide more than 30 mpg.  Offering dynamic yet timeless designs, Chevy owners demand great looks that don’t go out of style, high performance per dollar, and features expected in more expensive vehicles.

To learn more about Chevrolet’s perspective on our partnership, visit http://www.chevrolet.com/safety/