Partnership advances equity in child passenger safety and bike safety

DEARBORN, Mich., (May 2023) — Safe Kids Worldwide and AAA’s Auto Club Group Foundation are proud to announce a new partnership to advance equity in child passenger and bicycle safety. The overall goal of the partnership is to educate families and provide car seats, booster seats, and bike helmets to those that may not have access to these safety resources.

The partnership launched on May 16^th in Florida, with events throughout the year hosted by ten Safe Kids coalitions in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Michigan. These events will specifically target underserved communities with education, equipment, and resources.

“At Safe Kids, a commitment to equity in child safety is critical to achieving our mission to keep all kids safe from preventable injuries whether they are at home, at school, at play, or on the way,” said Safe Kids President Torine Creppy. “It is critical that we reach all children, particularly those who have been marginalized and underserved. This partnership with AAA goes hand-in-hand with the launch of our new strategic plan at the Childhood Injury Prevention Convention, PREVCON, in July as we work toward a more equitable transportation system.”

“This partnership with SafeKids is a natural fit for us at AAA,” said Matt Nasworthy, Executive Director for the ACG Foundation. “We share a common goal to ensure every child is buckled up in the right seat, the right way, every time, and that every child has access to and wears a properly fitted bike helmet to reduce the risk of head injury.”

Road injuries are a leading cause of preventable deaths and injuries to children in the United States. The best way to keep a child safe in the car is to use the right car seat in the right way. Correctly used car seats, booster seats, and seat belts can reduce the risk of death by as much as 71%. Yet more than half of car seats are not used or installed correctly.

“Every child deserves to be safe,” Nasworthy continued. “AAA and the Auto Club Group Foundation are excited to partner with Safe Kids to provide education and resources to families and children that need it most, whether it’s using the right car seat, teaching kids the ‘rules of the road’ when biking, or distributing helmets and child safety seats.”

While summer is an exciting time of year for many families, it’s also known as “trauma season” among public health and medical professionals because unintentional injuries and deaths increase dramatically among children during this time. However, many of these injuries and deaths are preventable.

“We want kids and families to ride their bikes as much as they can — biking offers fun, freedom, and exercise, and it’s good for the environment. We also want everyone to stay safe and wear a properly fitted helmet,” Creppy said. “We’re grateful to the Auto Club Group Foundation for their support in helping us keep all children safe.”

ABOUT SAFE KIDS WORLDWIDE
Safe Kids Worldwide is a nonprofit organization working to protect kids from preventable injuries, the number one cause of death for children in the United States. Safe Kids works with an extensive network of more than 400 coalitions in the U.S. and with partners in more than 30 countries to reduce traffic injuries, drownings, falls, burns, poisonings, and more. Safe Kids also engages in advocacy efforts to make kids safer at the federal, state, and local levels. Since 1988, Safe Kids has helped reduce the U.S. childhood death rate from unintentional injury by nearly 60 percent. Learn more at safekids.org.

AAA in Michigan celebrated its 100^th Anniversary - A Century of Service in 2016 and has over 1.5 million members across the state. It is part of The Auto Club Group (ACG).  Connect with us on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The Auto Club Group (ACG) is the second largest AAA club in North America with more than 13 million members across 14 U.S. states, the province of Quebec and two U.S. territories. ACG and its affiliates provide members with roadside assistance, insurance products, banking and financial services, travel offerings and more. ACG belongs to the national AAA federation with more than 62 million members in the United States and Canada. AAA’s mission is to protect and advance freedom of mobility and improve traffic safety. For more information, get the AAA Mobile app, visit AAA.com, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

photos courtesy of AAA