June 2014 - Greater Cincinnati Automobile Dealers Association

E-Z baby saver invented by boy to save children’s lives

Andrew Pelham, an 11 year old boy from Brentwood, Tennessee is a young inventor already taking strides to saving lives.  He created what he calls the E-Z Baby Saver, a device designed to remind parents that their child is in the backseat, so they won’t leave him/her in the dangerous heat.  What enticed Andrew to come up with such an invention, was that he had been looking for a contest to enter, (which is something he likes doing) and found the Rubber Band Contest for Young Inventors, based in Akron, Ohio, rubber capital of the United States.  Contestants had to use rubber bands in their invention.   After hearing both a story about a baby boy who died after being left in the back of his mom’s minivan, and the alarming fact that an average of thirty-eight children die every year from being left in the heat of a vehicle, Andrew wanted to make something that could help.

Andrew developed a strap that fastens from the back seat and stretches across the front seat, hindering the driver from getting out of the car without removing the strap, which is a reminder that the baby is in the back seat.  With his extremely useful invention, Andrew took home second place, winning $500, which he used to buy a laptop and create a website dedicated to the Baby Saver.  The website even provides instructions on how to make your own!  Andrew Pelham’s creation is original, and something that will potentially help save children’s lives. “I’m hoping if I can save one life with my invention, I can say that my invention was successful,” says Andrew.  He’s definitely a young inventor to watch for in the future!  To view the article, or watch the video, click here.

Benefits of franchised automobile dealers

The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) has launched a new initiative called “Get the Facts”, promoting the benefits of franchised automobile dealers.  The initiative highlights four central benefits of being a franchised dealer, which includes: price competition, consumer safety, local economic benefits, and an added value.  “NADA’s efforts will set the record straight about the benefits of the dealer franchise network for consumers, manufacturers and local communities everywhere,” said NADA President Peter Welch.  “Franchised new-car dealers provide the best, most efficient and most cost-effective way to sell and distribute new cars in America, and we’re proud of our businesses and business model.”  New-car dealers aggressively compete for business, driving down consumer prices, taking the side of consumers in warranty and safety recall situations, creating jobs, and simplifying the car-buying experience.  For more information on this initiative, click here.

Plate wins contest for Cleves couple

Winning is an action known well by a couple from Cleves, Ohio.  Doug and Julie Menkhaus are winners of this quarter’s Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ “What’s on your Plate?” contest.  The couple happen to be owners of one of the most iconic cars to ever grace a movie screen, the DeLorean DMC-12, made famous by the 1985 movie “Back to the Future.”  The winning license plate?  “POW O LUV”, inspired by the 1985 hit “The Power of Love,” by Huey Lewis and the News, which was also made popular by the movie.  The Menkhaus’ came into possession of the car through Julie’s now deceased aunt, and have had it for about three years now.  Doug said that even though it’s not their primary vehicle, it still gets a lot of attention.  “We get a lot of thumbs up.  People usually understand the license plate reference right away.”  As it turns out, the couple was invited to attend Wyoming High School’s prom two years ago because of their car.  Care to guess what the prom’s theme was?  “Back to the Future.”  Doug explained that he and his wife didn’t know each other during high school and therefor never went to prom together; “so when we were invited to their prom, we finally got to go to one together.  It was pretty neat.” 

 

Source:

Walsworth, Jack. “Plate wins contest for Cleves couple.” THE ENQUIRER 9 June 2014: A10. Print.

“It’s something needed in the U.S.”: encouraged bystander CPR

A new study from Denmark shows an increase in the number of people who survive cardiac arrest when the nation encouraged bystanders to step in and perform CPR.  After analyzing data from over 19,000 people who went into cardiac arrest someplace other than a hospital between June 2001 and December 2010, researchers found that the proportion of cardiac arrest patients who got to the hospital alive and survived over the next year increased.  The fact is, at the beginning of the study, only about 21 percent of patients had a bystander step in to perform CPR during their cardiac arrest.  Yet, by the end of the study in 2010, that number had more than doubled to 45 percent (“More people”)!  The country took numerous steps to increase the number of people performing CPR, including mandatory training for elementary school students and people getting driver’s licenses.  While the researchers can’t say that the national initiatives directly caused the increase in participation or survival, this and other efforts have certainly aided in the positive results acknowledged from the study.  “Nevertheless, the results of this study indicate that the increased rate of bystander CPR was an important factor in improving survival,” said Dr. Mads Wissenberg, the study’s lead author from Copenhagen University Hospital Gentofte.  Dr. Graham Nichol, professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, said implementing a national program like Denmark’s is novel, compared with implementing smaller regional programs.  “It’s something needed in the U.S. (“More people”)” To read the article, click here.