AAA and Hertz Announce Campaign to
Help Keep Vacationing Children in Car and Booster Seats
Washington, D.C., July 9 – AAA, America’s leading advocate for child passenger safety, and Hertz, the world’s largest car rental company, have joined forces to help keep America’s youngest passengers safe and secure while traveling.
The campaign, called “Don’t Take a Vacation from Your Car Seat,” is a first-ever effort to build awareness that parents must put their children in child safety seats and booster seats when they rent a vehicle. Child seats saved 392 lives in 2006 and AAA has been advocating for state laws that increase their usage for more than 20 years.
AAA members rent more than three million vehicles annually from Hertz and this summer they need only provide the Hertz agent with their membership card and they can receive up to two complimentary child safety or booster seats from Hertz.
In addition to the free child safety seats, Hertz and AAA will also be posting more than 3,000 “Don’t Take a Vacation from Your Car Seat” posters in AAA’s 1,100 travel agency locations and 2,000 Hertz locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Regardless of where you travel in the U.S. there are state laws requiring the use of child safety seats. While laws vary from state to state regarding booster seat usage, AAA urges travelers to keep children in car and booster seats until the lap/shoulder safety belts fit them properly, usually around age eight.
“Family travelers want and need to protect their children when they ride in a rented automobile,” said Mark H. Brown, Executive Vice President of AAA. He noted a recent AAA-Hertz survey found that 95 percent of parents who travel with a child six years of age or younger reported that their child needed to be in a child safety or booster seat. “Hertz and AAA want to make it easier for parents who may worry about the inconvenience of bringing a child safety seat while travelling.”
Renting a safety seat has become increasingly simple because travelers can now reserve a seat when they book through their travel agent or online at www.AAA.com/hertz and www.hertz.com. According to the Hertz/AAA survey of parents who travel with young children, of those travelers who rent a child safety seat at their location, 81 percent say they book their seat at the time of reservation.
“The safety of all our customers, including young travelers, is of paramount concern to Hertz,” commented Joseph R. Nothwang, President of North America and Pacific Rent A Car for Hertz. “Hertz has been aggressively reengineering itself to be more customer centric and we’re pleased to work with AAA to make the use of safety seats while traveling more convenient and less expensive for our customers.”
To take advantage of this promotion advance reservations are required using a AAA CDP # and Promotion Code number (PC #) 121623 on rentals picked up through September 30, 2008, subject to availability. Call your local AAA office or visit AAA.com/hertz for complete details.
About AAA
AAA MountainWest Club, is dedicated to providing its more than 160,000 members in Alaska, Montana and Wyoming with travel, insurance, financial, and auto-related services. A fully taxpaying, not for profit corporation, AAA MountainWest, Inc. strives for improvement of motoring and traveling conditions, and is a leader for travel, civic and safety issues. AAA can be visited on the Internet at www.AAA.com.
About Hertz
The Hertz Corporation, a subsidiary of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HTZ), is the world’s largest general use car rental brand, operating from approximately 8,000 locations in 145 countries worldwide. Hertz is the number one airport car rental brand in the U.S. and at 69 major airports in Europe, operating both corporate and licensee locations in cities and airports in North America, Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. In addition, the Company has licensee locations in cities and airports in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Product and service initiatives such as Hertz #1 Club Gold®, NeverLost® customized, onboard navigation systems, SIRIUS Satellite Radio, and unique cars and SUVs offered through the company’s Prestige, Fun and Green Collections, set Hertz apart from the competition. Hertz also operates one of the world’s largest equipment rental businesses – Hertz Equipment Rental – offering a diverse line of equipment to customers ranging from major industrial companies to local contractors and consumers through more than 360 branches in the United States, Canada, France and Spain.
To make car rental reservations or for more information, customers can call their travel agent, or call Hertz toll-free at 1-800-654-3131. Information and reservations are also available on the web at www.hertz.com. For information on Hertz Equipment Rental, visit the company on the web at www.hertzequip.com.
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