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DaimlerChrysler to Offer Free Scheduled Child Safety Seat Inspections

4 June 1999

DaimlerChrysler First Automaker to Offer Scheduled Child Safety Seat Inspections as Free Service for Customers

      In Cooperation With Fisher-Price and The National Safety Council,
   'Fit for a Kid' Strengthens DaimlerChrysler's Leadership on Child Safety

    WASHINGTON, June 3 -- For all the millions of parents who
have struggled to make sure child safety seats are in their vehicles correctly
and worried that their children are safe in those seats -- help is on the way.
    DaimlerChrysler Corporation, in partnership with Fisher-Price, Inc. and
with support from the National Safety Council, today announced that it will
become the world's first automaker to offer to its customers free child safety
seat inspections as an integrated service of the corporation and its dealer
network.   The new service, called Fit for a Kid, will more than double the
number of certified child safety seat inspectors in the US.  It will create
the capacity to inspect and ensure proper installation of 800,000 seats
annually, compared to about 30,000 inspected in the US last year.
    "Today DaimlerChrysler declares an unprecedented commitment to child
safety," said DaimlerChrysler Chairman Robert Eaton.  "Just as DaimlerChrysler
checks your brakes, your tire pressure and all your vehicle's safety systems,
we will now make sure child safety seats are properly installed in our
vehicles.  By doing more than any other automaker in the world to ensure that
children are safely restrained in our vehicles, we know we will prevent
countless injuries and deaths."  Eaton noted that this is the latest in a
series of safety initiatives in which DaimlerChrysler has taken leadership.
    Traffic crashes are the leading killer of kids.  Studies show more than 60
percent of children killed in vehicles are unrestrained and more than 80
percent of children in safety seats are incorrectly restrained.  The National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in January of this year recommended the
establishment of a system of permanent fitting stations to address the
problem.
    "We are very pleased that DaimlerChrysler stepped up to our challenge so
quickly and with such a far reaching response,"  NTSB Chairman Jim Hall said.
"Fit for a Kid goes beyond what we had even imagined -- beyond our suggestion
of fitting stations -- to make child safety seat inspections an integral part
of the safety service for customers of one of the world's largest
corporations.  Today DaimlerChrysler has set a new standard for child
passenger safety for the entire auto industry."
    Susan Cischke, Vice President of Safety Affairs for DaimlerChrysler, said
it will take more than a year to train the full complement of 2,000 inspectors
required for the program.  She said the service will be launched with a pilot
in early September 1999, and will be available nationwide starting in
February, 2000 when certified inspectors at 500 dealers will be trained and
ready.  An additional 500 dealers will be added six months later to create a
network of 1,000 Fit for a Kid dealers.
    DaimlerChrysler customers will be able to call toll free 1-877-FIT-4-A-KID
or go to a Web site and get a list of Fit for a Kid dealers in their area.
They will then be able to call the dealer directly to make an appointment for
the child safety seat inspection.  The toll-free number will also serve as a
resource for all parents to receive information on child passenger safety.
    "DaimlerChrysler customers won't have to rely on occasional community
service events and hope they hear about them or wait in line to have their
child seats inspected," said John Gunning, owner, Manassas Dodge of Manassas,
VA.  "With two phone calls, our customers will be able to find a participating
dealer in their area and make an appointment with a certified inspector to
ensure child safety seats are secure in their vehicle.  Fit for a Kid is
another way DaimlerChrysler dealers can offer safety service leadership."
During the first phase of the program, the service will be available through
Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth and Jeep dealers.  Mercedes dealers are expected to
participate in the second phase.
    Eaton said Fisher-Price will lend its child safety expertise and products
to help make the program possible.
    "Fisher-Price is a leader in car seat development and a name families can
trust to keep their children safe.  We are proud to partner in this
unprecedented program which sets a new model and a new standard for the entire
industry," said Richard Garvey, Executive Vice President, General Manager,
Fisher-Price.  "We are also very pleased to contribute Fisher-Price Safe
Embrace car seats as temporary loaner seats for those who need a seat until
they can buy one."  Fisher-Price will also offer discounts on Safe Embrace
seats to customers whose inspection reveals they need a new one.
    DaimlerChrysler also will make available to customers and install -- free
of charge -- top tether hardware designed to improve forward facing child seat
performance in crashes by limiting the forward motion of the seat.
    Cischke said the National Safety Council will coordinate certified
training and record keeping for the program.
    "The National Safety Council is very pleased to join with DaimlerChrysler
and Fisher-Price in Fit for a Kid," said Council President Gerard F. Scannell.
"This represents an enormous step forward in child passenger safety in the US.
The sheer scale will tax the current systems for training and certification of
inspectors, but working with the entire safety community, we will get the job
done."
    Cischke also noted DaimlerChrysler's Fit for a Kid would not have been
possible without the pioneering work of the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) to address the problem and create a training
curriculum.