National 'Click It or Ticket' Safety Belt Campaign to Be Featured at the World Premiere of Disney/Pixar's 'CARS' May 26th

National 'Click It or Ticket' Safety Belt Campaign to Be Featured at the World Premiere of Disney/Pixar's 'CARS' May 26th

WASHINGTON, May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Disney/Pixar and the Department of Transportation will launch a new partnership to promote highway safety during the World Premiere of the movie "CARS" this Friday, May 26, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, NC.

As part of this partnership, the "CARS" World Premiere will include a new safety public service announcement developed for the Department's "Click It or Ticket" campaign. The ad contains a strong safety message about the need for families to wear safety belts, and will be distributed to the Department of Transportation's national, state and local highway safety partners.

"Too many highway deaths could easily have been prevented with the simple click of a safety belt," said Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta, who is expected to attend the premiere. "Working with companies like Disney and Pixar helps us make sure families across the country get the word we all need to buckle up."

Commenting on their participation, Lylle Breier, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Special Events, said, "We're thrilled to have 'Click It or Ticket' on board as a Premiere Partner for this exciting event. The connection between Disney/Pixar's 'CARS' and the Department of Transportation in support of highway safety is perfect."

According to the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 33,000 passenger vehicle occupants died in traffic crashes during 2005 -- and 55 percent of those killed were NOT wearing their safety belts at the time of the crash. Law enforcement agencies throughout the nation are conducting stepped-up enforcement and awareness activities during late May's national "Click It or Ticket" mobilization to remind all drivers and passengers to always remember to wear their safety belts.

"Click It or Ticket" is the national highway safety campaign that each May unites more than 12,000 state and local law enforcement agencies in a national crackdown on safety belt violators to help save more lives on our highways.

"CARS," directed by Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker John Lasseter, will be shown on four giant custom-built outdoor movie screens (115-feet wide and 50-feet tall) at Turn #2 of the famed superspeedway. With the first-ever multi-screen outdoor digital projection, utilizing twelve DLP Cinema(R) projectors from Barco, Christie and NEC, and state-of-the-art sound, the film will look and sound its very best. The Disney/Pixar film "CARS" is set to open at theatres everywhere on June 9th.

Source: Walt Disney Studios

CONTACT: Karen Aldana of NHTSA, +1-202-366-1699, Karen.aldana@dot.gov

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Profile: International Entertainment