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Pollster Lou Harris to Release National Survey Findings Of Americans' Concerns About Highway and Auto Safety

14 September 1999

Pollster Lou Harris to Release National Survey Findings Of Americans' Concerns About Highway and Auto Safety

      New Harris Poll Gauges the Public's Fears About Red Light Running,
Pedestrian Safety, Older and Younger Drivers, Sport Utility Vehicles and Weak
                             Car Safety Standards

  Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety to Mark 10-Year Anniversary by Issuing
                      Recommendations to Shift Road and
              Vehicle Safety into High Gear in the 21st Century

    WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 --

    WHAT:      NEWS CONFERENCE where national pollster Lou Harris and
               Advocates For Highway & Auto Safety will (1) release the
               findings of a new nationwide Harris survey of Americans' views
               on a wide range of highway and auto Safety problems, and (2)
               unveil a report called "Stuck in Neutral: Recommendations for
               Shifting the Highway and Auto Safety Agenda into High Gear" in
               the 21st century that will provide 80 fixes for greater
               vehicle design safety, improved driver behavior and occupant
               protection, and enhanced safety engineering of roads and
               intersections.

    WHEN:      THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 9:30 a.m.

    WHERE:     National Press Club (Murrow-White-Lisagor rooms), 14th and F
               Sts., NW, Washington, D.C.

    WHO:       * LOU HARRIS, President, Louis Harris Polling.
               * JUDITH LEE STONE, President, Advocates for Highway & Auto
               Safety.
               * JACQUELINE GILLAN, Vice President, Advocates for Highway &
               Auto Safety, who was injured last year in a crash caused by a
               red light runner at a Maryland intersection.
               * HERMAN BRANDAU, Associate General Counsel, State Farm
               Insurance; Co-Chair, Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety.
               * JOAN CLAYBROOK, President of Public Citizen; National Board
               Member, Advocates.

    WHY:       Highway crashes are the No. 1 cause of death and disabling
               injury of Americans under age 30.  Over the past two decades,
               while alcohol-related traffic deaths have dropped by nearly
               40%, NON-alcohol-related highway fatalities have increased by
               more than 35%.  The new Harris poll will gauge Americans'
               concerns on a wide range of highway safety issues, including
               intersection safety, red light running, pedestrian safety,
               older and younger drivers, sport utility vehicles (SUV) and
               truck safety, and more.  The Harris poll will also show how
               the public feels about the role of government in mandating
               safety standards, the need to revamp federal motor vehicle
               safety standards, and level of federal spending on highway and
               auto safety.

    B-ROLL VIDEO will be available to TV news crews containing footage of
drivers running red lights, SUV rollover crashes, older and younger drivers,
pedestrians at crosswalks, car occupants buckling up, air bags deploying,
rescue vehicles at car crash scenes, teen taking drivers license test at
motor vehicle administration.
    Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is an alliance of consumer, health
and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make
America's roads safer.