Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 28, 1993                   TAG: 9310080345
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOE KENNEDY STAFF WRITER|
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CAR SEAT PROGRAM PUTS CHILDREN'S SAFETY AHEAD OF PROFITS

Through a nationwide program called Project Safe Baby, the company's 1,800 shops are selling child safety seats at wholesale cost to anyone who wants one. Century 1000 fabric, convertible car seats are available for $42 - and those who buy theirs at Midas can return them after they're needed and receive $42 worth of free Midas services.

``They can keep it as long as they want to keep it,'' says Frank Smith, manager of the Midas shop on Williamson Road in Roanoke. ``We'll issue them a credit.''

The used seats will be donated to hospitals and other organizations that can make further use of them.

The idea came from the company's president, Ron Moore. It was refined with assistance from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The federal agency says correct use of car seats reduces the risk of death and injury to children by 70 percent. The program has three goals:

to increase awareness of the importance of using car seats, which are required by law for children up to age 4 in Virginia, as well as in the other 49 states and the District of Columbia;

to increase their correct use;

and to increase their availability at a low cost.

Midas buys its seats from Century Products of Macedonia, Ohio. They are adjustable and can be used by infants from 7 to 20 pounds and toddlers from 20 to 40 pounds. They were voted a ``best buy'' by Consumer Reports magazine in January 1992. They sell at retail from $50 to $80, according to the New York Times.

The program began May 1 and is expected to last indefinitely. In Roanoke, Smith's shop has twice ordered shipments of five seats and sold six.

Nationally, two years of test marketing resulted in the sale or donation of 10,000 seats, says Andrew Crouse, a spokesman at the Midas headquarters in Chicago.

``We're not really keeping track of selling seats because we don't want dealers competing with each other,'' Crouse says. ``We have no way of counting, and we're not keeping track.''

The company is directing its energies toward education in support of Project Safe Baby. It provides a free brochure on selection and use of the seats, and will send out a related videotape, 10 minutes long, for a $2.50 for shipping and handling fee. Both are available in English and Spanish.

The address for the tape is:

Midas Project Safe Baby

P.O. Box 92292

Dept. A

Libertyville, Ill. 60092

The company also has issued teaching guides and educational coloring books on the subject. The company says it created the project after learning that in 1991 alone, 451 deaths and about 49,000 serious injuries to children could have been prevented with the proper use of car seats. The NHTSA says one in four seats is not used correctly, and other studies have estimated the misuse at 80 to 90 percent.

Common mistakes in use are:

placing infants in safety seats that should face toward the rear of the vehicle but are turned toward the front;

letting children sit loosely in the seats, rather than securing them by the safety harness;

failing to secure the seat with the car's safety belt;

using a rear-facing seat in an air bag equipped seating position;

using the car's automatic seatbelt system without reviewing vehicle or safety seat manufacturer's instructions.

Midas' promotional materials note that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and injury among young children and quote Michael Brownlee, the NHTSA associate administrator, as saying the use of car seats has leveled off a bit in recent years.

``There are still special groups that don't use car seats,'' Brownlee says, ``and they seem to be more likely to be involved in major motor vehicle crashes.''