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.
·        Three out of every four car seats are not used or installed correctly and almost 50 percent of fatally injured children were unrestrained at the time of a crash.
·        African American and Hispanic children are as much as ten times more likely than Caucasian children to be unrestrained while traveling in a car.
·        In crashes involving fatalities in children under 14, seat belt use is lower among African Americans than among all other race or ethnic groups.
·        Hispanic children are significantly less likely to be buckled up than non-Hispanic children across all age groups.

  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.  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:

“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 Toyota

With 7.1 billion people now living on the planet, Forbes says its list is of the 71 who matter, averaging one person for every 100 million.

Of the political, religious and business leaders, just two (Musk and Toyoda) are the head of car companies, though both automakers vary greatly.

Ranked at number 66 on the list is Musk, the man who founded PayPal and used his fortune to fund Tesla Motors, which after selling its electric Roadster sportscar in limited numbers for years, went more mainstream in 2012, launching its Model S electric sedan, which has earned accolades from the automotive press, including being named Motor Trend‘s Car of the Year.

However, Musks’s position on the list has less to do with Tesla and more to do with another of his companies, SpaceX. Launching a rocket to the space station this year and delivering supplies, Forbes calls him “the most powerful man in space” and says that he, “stands to make out like a 19th-century railway tycoon.”

Ranking above Musk is the CEO of the world’s largest automaker and great-grandson of its founder (with the name to prove it), Akio Toyoda. With the Japanese auto-giant about to solidify its third year as the world’s top selling automaker, it has sold over 200 million vehicles since it was established. In addition to being an automaker, the company’s Toyota Financial Services division also makes Toyota a bank. In addition, Toyota is seen as a pioneer in green technology, with its Prius model synonymous with the word hybrid.

Compiled by Forbes’ senior editors, each of the 71 individuals on the list are there based on individual rankings in four “power categories”, including how many people they have power over, the financial resources they control, how many different areas they have power in (political, religious, economic, etc.), and finally, they must actively use their power.

Placing first on the list is US President Barack Obama, followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with Russian President Vladimir Putin in third.

Courtesy of AutoGuide.com