2015 AARP Life@50+ National Event and Expo - Bob Carter

As prepared for: 

AARP Life@50+ National Event and Expo
Miami, FL
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Bob Carter, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Automotive Operations, Toyota Motor Sales

Good afternoon everyone!
 
I hope you’ve all had a GREAT time so far. Now, before one of you wins the keys to this gorgeous 2015 Highlander Hybrid... I want to talk about something important to all of us... safety.
 
And specifically, Toyota’s commitment to safety.
 
At Toyota, it’s our job to try to provide a safe transportation experience for drivers, passengers and pedestrians... while making sure our products are also fun to drive and look great. And it’s a job we take very seriously.
 
How seriously? Well, we invest more than 1-Million dollars every hour on research and development, which includes our safety initiatives. 
 
Additionally, we partner with universities, hospitals, research institutions and federal agencies across North America to work on nearly 30 safety research programs.
 
Even better... we share our findings with our competitors so the auto industry can build safer vehicles for you and your family. Safety isn’t just a Toyota issue… it’s an issue that affects every single one of us across this nation...and around the world.
 
Along with our investments in safety research, Toyota sponsors safety programs for kids, teens and adults on the go.
 
Let’s start with our kids. Take a look…
 
Now… that brings back some memories. Anyone else struggle with car seats?
 
Well, you’re not alone. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, three out of four car seats in the U.S. are installed incorrectly. So Toyota partnered with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to create Buckle Up For Life.
 
Through Buckle Up For Life, parents, grandparents, and even kids learn about the importance of seat belts and the safest ways to use car seats. We even provide families with brand new car seats if they need one. It doesn’t matter what kind of car they drive.
 
So far, Buckle Up For Life has provided funding for more than 40-Thousand car seats and child passenger safety programs in 14 cities, and we’ll be in 17 cities by next year.
 
Okay... so what about teenagers? 
 
Well, here’s an eye-opener: according to Triple-A, teens involved in crashes caused by distracted driving took their eyes off the road for an average of 5 seconds. To put that in perspective…taking your eyes off the road for just five seconds… at 55 miles per hour… is like driving the length of a football field blindfolded.
 
That’s why Toyota developed the TeenDrive365 program… a collection of resources for teen drivers and their parents. Together they can witness and experience the dangers of distracted driving first-hand.
 
I think you’ll like this one…
 
As you can see… adults have a responsibility too… because teens learn their driving habits from their parents and grandparents… good AND bad.
 
For more information on Buckle Up For Life… TeenDrive365… and all of Toyota’s safety programs… visit toyota.com/usa/safety/index.html.
 
Okay, so what about our older drivers?  Toyota proudly sponsors the A-A-R-P Driver Safety program, the nation’s first and largest safety course designed for drivers over the age of 50.
 
Last year, 492-Thousand participants completed the Driver Safety program… which helps you:
 

• Update your knowledge of the rules of the road…
• Understand the effects of medications on driving...
• And how to reduce driving distractions.

 
Take a look...
 
To sign up for an AARP Driver Safety course near you… visit AARP.ORG/DRIVE.
 
In addition to our safety investments and programs... our vision for the future is to try to help eliminate traffic fatalities and injuries. We know it’s a huge goal… and that’s why we continue to offer advanced safety technologies in our products.  We want to help create a safer driving experience for you, your passengers and pedestrians.
 
For example, we recently introduced a new package of safety components called Toyota Safety Sense. It’s designed to address three key areas of accident protection:
 

• preventing or mitigating rear collisions…
• keeping drivers within their lane…
• and enhancing road safety during night time driving.

 
Let me show you…
 
Our Safety Sense package provides an added layer of safety on top of our existing Star Safety System, which is a bundle of safety features that is STANDARD on EVERY new vehicle.
 
Ok, before one of you wins the keys to this brand new, Highlander Hybrid... assembled at our plant in Princeton, Indiana, I want to thank everyone who visited our Toyota display this week. We hope you learned more about our cars, trucks and SUVs… and took a test drive.
 
Thousands of A-A-R-P members signed up at the Toyota display to win the Highlander… and five of you will win $200 gas cards.
 
Now, we’re ready to select our grand prize winner.
 
On behalf of Toyota and the Greater Miami and Fort Lauderdale Toyota Dealers’ Association… the winner of the new 2015 Highlander Hybrid is…