Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that…

• Hispanic children are three times more likely to die in a car accident
• Over 31% of African American high school students reported rarely or never wearing their seat belts

These alarming statistics, combined with what they were seeing firsthand in their own emergency room, inspired the renowned trauma specialists at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to come to Toyota for support in 2004. The program we have created together is called Buckle Up for Life.

Buckle Up for Life is a program that educates Hispanic and African American communities about child car safety seats, seat belts, and other life saving vehicle safety behaviors. It brings hospital safety curriculum to Hispanic and African American church congregations, integrating safety lessons into sermons and Sunday school classes.

To date, the program has had tremendous success in Ohio, Kentucky and, most recently, Los Angeles, California. In 2011, the program will begin to expand to new cities across the U.S.

In 2010 alone, Buckle Up for Life gave away 600 new child car safety seats to families that needed them.