GUELPH, ON, April 12 – Community coalitions across the province will run car seat inspection
clinics tomorrow, Saturday April 13th, during Ontario’s second Love Me – Buckle Me Right Day.
The Co-operators is proud to sponsor the Ontario-wide car
seat awareness day, an initiative between the province’s Ministry of Transportation,
Public Health Units, community coalitions and other corporate sponsors. Throughout the
province, over 100 car seat clinics will be held in conjunction with Ontario’s two week
Spring seat belt campaign, on from April 13 to 27, 2002.
“Seat belts and child car seats save lives,”
Transportation Minister Brad Clark said. “This is the perfect opportunity for parents
to ensure their child’s car seat is properly installed and used for maximum safety.”
The Co-operators own Buckle Up Bears car seat inspection
program reaches out to parents across Canada through dozens of clinics each year. The Love
Me – Buckle Me Right Day supports the work of the Buckle Up Bears program and reinforces
our goal of keeping children safe.
“Tomorrow is a day of great potential. Imagine how
many kids will be safer at the end of Love Me – Buckle Me Right Day. We applaud all the
committed and concerned community partners who devote their time to making kids safer on
Ontario’s roads,” said Kathy Bardswick, President and CEO of The Co-operators.
Last year alone, through the Buckle Up Bears program,
agents and staff of The Co-operators found that 65 per cent of car seats were not used or
installed correctly. And so, the inspections must go on. It is sad to think that motor
vehicle collisions continue to be the number one cause of death for children age 1 to 9.
Sad, when you think that most of these deaths and injuries are almost entirely preventable.
The Co-operators is a group of wholly Canadian-owned
companies that specialize in insurance and financial products, property development, and
management and investment counselling. The Co-operators group of companies provides
insurance protection to more than two million Canadians and have assets of over $4.7 billion.
