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Fraser Group & NFO: Rear-facing Infant in back seat: Hazardous!

15 November 1999

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, November 12, 1999---In Arapahoe County, Colorado, 
on October 26, 1999, a rear-facing child in the back seat of a car was killed 
due to the driver crossing a median and hitting a tractor trailer.  When 
rescuers arrived the mother was moaning, I only turned around for a second, I 
only turned around for a second. Accident-causing distraction from a 
rear-facing infants in the back seat are much to commonplace.

A study which determines that: Eight out of ten Parents say that rear-facing 
infants in back-seat represent a serious hazard was made available to 
participants of the October 23 to 26, Juvenile Products Manufacturers 
Association (JPMA) annual trade-show.  

According to the survey released by the Fraser Group and NFO Worldwide, 
nearly 60% of U. S. parents say that driving alone with infants in 
rear-facing car seats placed in the back seat is "very distracting", and 
about eight out of ten fear it could cause an accident. The study revealed 
that when alone in a car with a rear-facing infant in the back seat, 83% of 
parents believe that the rear-facing infant causes distractions which may 
result in accidents.

In stark contrast to current transportation safety guidelines, the survey 
shows that majority of parents believe infants in the back seat create 
serious distraction for drivers. The suggestion that all children in the back 
seat, should NOT include rear-facing infants who cause harmful distractions 
when in the back seat.

The study, a third phase of a three phase study, has 95 percent statistical 
confidence level, with plus or minus five percent precision. The study, with 
data gathering by NFO Research, Inc., was based on 476 completed interviews 
representing 40% of the total sample of 1200.

Results of this survey are consistent with the previous phases which were 
based on interviews and focus groups of a smaller sample, but limited to 
those previously engaged in a crashes with rear-facing infant in the car.

73 percent of respondents would use an airbag-compatible, rear-facing infant 
seat, on the passenger seat where they belong.

At JPMA, Xportation Safety Concepts, Inc. (XSCi), displayed a production 
prototype of its airbag-compatible infants seat. The seat was tested 
interacting with airbags, in the US and Europe. Results proved it safe with 
an airbag, safer than conventional seats even without an airbag. NHTSA 
described the seat as one it expects would: reduce, or possibly eliminate 
fatalities risk to infants in rear-facing child seat positioned in front of 
an airbag.

For information contact: Sharon Harnisch, XSCi
                                       4143 Sinton Road, Colorado Springs
                                       Colorado 80907
                                        Phone: (719)593-8882; 
                                        FAX:    (719)593-8882
                                        email: XSCi1@aol.com