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November 10, 2005
ROCKEFELLER RECEIVES AWARD FOR EXCEPTIONAL WORK IN PROMOTING VEHICLE SAFETY
-Vehicle Safety Provisions Could Mean More Business for Parkersburg's Washington Works Plant-
Washington, D.C. – In recognition of his significant contributions in improving automobile safety, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has been awarded the Safety Hero Award by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. Rockefeller was honored for his vehicle safety provisions in the recently-passed landmark Transportation Equity Act. Among other provisions, Rockefeller sponsored measures that would reduce passenger ejections by increasing automobile glass safety standards.
The Safety Hero Award was given to Rockefeller in “recognition of your extraordinary leadership in advancing life-saving legislation to reduce deaths and injuries on our streets and highways.”
“Working together with safety advocates and our partners in the automobile industry, we were able to introduce measures that will save thousands of lives,” said Rockefeller. “These new measures will keep families and their children safer.”
Each year, more than 13,000 people are seriously injured or killed in passenger ejections from automobiles. In 2003, 42,643 people nationwide and 394 West Virginians died in highway accidents. For Americans aged 1 to 34, traffic fatalities remain the leading cause of death.
West Virginia stands to benefit economically from another aspect of the Rockefeller provisions. DuPont’s Washington Works in Parkersburg is one of the few plants in the country that makes one of the types of vehicle safety glass that likely will be used to meet the safety standards. That will likely mean additional business for the Parkersburg plant.
“DuPont’s plant has been a leader in providing automobile safety glass,” said Rockefeller. “They will continue to benefit because they make products that are of the highest quality.”
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is a coalition of consumer, health, safety and insurance companies.
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