Echomaster Announces The Addition Of Josh Rohm To Its Sales Force.

EchoMaster LLC is proud to announce the addition of Josh Rohm to its sales force. Josh will be the new VP of Sales and is responsible for handling sales and marketing to the automotive aftermarket in North America. Josh will report directly to Jerry Redding, the former VP of Sales, who will now take a more active role as VP of Operations for EchoMaster.

“Josh brings years of aftermarket experience in a variety of markets,” said Jerry. “We expect him to be a great addition to our team and an asset to our customers as well.”

Josh can be contacted directly by phone at 574-274-9249 or via email at josh@echomaster.com .
All advertising and press inquiries should be sent to Josh at this time.

EchoMaster Introduces Custom-Fit Rear View Camera
for the Ford Transit Connect

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA - May 10, 2011 - EchoMaster LLC (www.echomaster.com), is now shipping
the E-Vision FT-822, an exclusive, direct-fit rear camera for all 2010-pressnt Ford Transit Connect. The patented
designed backup camera replaces the factory license plate lamp housing with an all-in-one replacement lamp
and wide-angle 170-degree color CCD camera. The camera is rated at IP68 for dust and waterproof integrity.
The low profile design allows for a discreet and factory appearance, along with an easy and consistent installation.

The FT-822 backup camera may be connected to a variety of EchoMaster monitors and activates automatically
when the vehicle is put into reverse gear. The system provides the driver an unobstructed view and reduced blind
zone behind the vehicle. The FT-822 also features Parking Guidelines to help with tight parking situations,
maneuvering in tight surroundings.

“The Transit Connect is becoming one of the most popular fuel efficient solution for commuter and commercial
activities and providing a safety and convenience system is a top priority for drivers and risk managers. Our new
Transit Connect camera was designed to meet the demands of these professionals, along with installers and
fleet managers,” said Jerry Redding, Vice President of Sales for EchoMaster.

The Transit Connect rear camera is now available through EchoMaster Dealers. For more information, contact
EchoMaster at (888) 324-6678 or visit www.echomaster.com/transit.html

In this growing technology age a company can take advantage of several solutions to protect drivers, customers and the companies bottom-line. GPS, Parking Aids, Navigation, Bluetooth & Back-up Cameras products are the fastest electronics needs in the Fleet Industry today. A risk manager needs to take careful consideration of what will benefit the driver and the company without adding an unnecessary distraction. The cost ratio of whether the expense of the product will justify reducing risk, liability and expenses is another important factor when considering an electronic solution.

The electronic products versus the older ‘non- electronic products’ has changed the way we do business and manage the Fleet. GPS and Navigation allows the driver and company to manage the route and become more efficient and profitable. No more city map to page through or employees stating I am working when in reality they are hiding at the local fast food restaurant.

Hands-free products mandates is growing and will continue to increase per state. How many times have you seen the video of the bus driver texting and then rear ending the car in front of him on the national news? Humans will not change ‘especially employees’ and will do what they want instead of what is best for the company. Bluetooth devices assist the driver to focus the ‘eyes’ on the road which is where they need to be. Another new product is an electronic ‘text & phone block’ device that will block texting & phone usage while driving which is another great solution.

The highest percentage of accidents is a back-up accident. Vehicles are not designed to go backwards they are manufactured to go forward. The blind zone of a vehicle can vary and it is not just the larger vehicles that have limited view ‘all vehicles have a blind zone’. Back-up cameras are a visual solution to assist the driver but are only effective when the driver is looking at the monitor. Back-up sensors are always working so you keep your eyes scanning on the side mirrors as you maneuver the vehicle in reverse gear. The best of both worlds is a system that combines the rear camera with rear sensors so you can have a visual and audio notifications.

No matter how large or how small your fleet is you should consider an electronic solution based on your companies needs. Look for proven companies and products and not the cheapest solution for protecting your vehicles and reducing the risk of your company. One accident or situation make cost your company $500 or 500,000...

Jerry Redding is the VP of Sales For EchoMaster and VisionMaster Safety Solutions.

EchoMaster Selected by Ford as Supplier
of Front and Rear Parking Sensors

Tuesday, June 15, 2010
EchoMaster, a supplier of obstacle detection and parking sensor systems, has been selected by Ford to supply front and rear sensing systems to Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealerships in North America. The two new “Ford Licensed Accessories” include a rear sensing system that scans behind a vehicle when it’s in reverse and a front sensing system. Both systems are designed to aid a driver with obstacle detection, parking, maneuvering and accident prevention.

Many Ford dealers pre-install these systems since demand has risen to the point it makes sense to keep select vehicles available with front and or rear sensors, Echomaster said. Pre-installation helps makes it easier to demonstrate the EchoMaster system while on the demo drive, helps differentiate the dealers inventory and helps close the sale with a higher gross profit. Customers will have the option to add EchoMaster products when taking ownership of their new vehicle add can even add the sensors when their cars are in for routine service.

“Our systems are well known for their rock solid performance and dependability,” said Mark Swannie, President of EchoMaster. “Our factory is TS16949 certified and our quality is undisputed. Our relationship with Ford is entering its second year, and we look forward to collaborating with them for many years to come.” The rear sensing system scans the driver’s blind-zone, in the rear of the vehicle, when in reverse. The sensors scan an area about as wide as the vehicle at a range of seven feet behind it. When the system detects an object in the scanning zone, three distinct warning tones will alert the driver. These tones include a slow beep that indicates the system detected an object six to seven feet away; a rapid beep, which indicates a distance to an object three to five feet away from the bumper; and a solid tone, which lets the driver know an object is less than two feet away from the bumper. The front sensing system is designed to protect a vehicle’s front corners and the central area of the front bumper during parking and maneuvering. The driver is alerted with a slow tone when an object is detected at a distance of 18-24 inches away from the bumper, a rapid tone at 12-18 inches and a solid tone when an object is just under12 inches away from the bumper.

Some Ford Service Departments will retain the installation revenue in-house, some will call on their Ford FADs to provide installation service. Additionally, a team of independent EchoMaster installers will be working with Ford dealers who prefer to use outside installation services. EchoMaster expediters have a unique opportunity to leverage these relationships with Ford dealers who own multiple franchises. EchoMaster is also recruiting professional installers to help meet this demand.
(Click here to view online article)

U.S Nontraffic Child Fatalities (2001-2010)

May 12, 2010

Statistics from the KidsAndCars.org database || Nontraffic incidents involving children <15 years-old

These data vastly underestimate the true magnitude of this public safety issue.
* The CDC reports over 9100 children are treated in hospital emergency rooms due nontraffic, noncrash incidents.

Grief Beyond Words

June 9, 2008

			In the US fifty children are being backed over by vehicles EVERY week.  Forty-eight are treated in hospital emergency rooms and at least two children are fatally injured every WEEK.  These unthinkable tragedies are happening most often in the driveway of the child¿½s home and in 70% of the incidents the driver of the vehicle is their parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or older sibling. Janette E. Fennell, Founder & President, KidsAndCars.org
			Learn why blind zones (large deadly areas) behind vehicles are causing death and serious injury to children: click here.

Back Over Safety

August 27, 2007

Restaurant designs factors in child's death

February 17, 2007 || Stand Finger, The Witcha Eagle

The death of a young boy after he darted in front of a large pickup in the drive through lane of a McDonald's restaurant Thursday in Wichita reflects "an epidemic" of traffic fatalities involving young children, a national child safety advocate said Friday."I would say it's definitely an epidemic," said Janette Fennell, president and founder of Kids and Cars, the Leawood-based organization dedicated to protecting children from non-traffic motor vehicle accidents. "We as adults have made the world very unsafe for children." Wichita police labeled the design of the restaurant property at Webb Road and Harry Street "hazardous" because it creates blind zones for both pedestrians and motorists. The 3-year-old boy died at Wesley Medical Center about an hour after he was struck by a Chevy Avalanche in the drive-through lane of the McDonald's, police said. The boy's twin brother and his grandmother had walked out of the restaurant
together. The 26-year-old driver of the Avalanche stopped for them as he entered the drive-through lane on the north side of the building, then began pulling forward when it seemed the lane was clear.

The second twin, who was leaving the store with his grandfather, darted out into the parking lot in an attempt to catch up with his brother. The driver never saw the second twin before it was too late, witnesses told police. The child was transported to Wesley Medical Center, where he died at 5:30 p.m. No charges are anticipated."It's just a tragic accident," police spokesman Gordon Bassham said -- but changes are needed, Fennell and others declared. In 2006 alone, Fennell said, more than 55 children around the country were killed in"front-over" accidents -- struck in driveways and parking lots by drivers who couldn't see them in front of their vehicles. Her organization used to focus on "back-over" accidents similar to the incident Wednesday at Buckner Performing Arts Magnet School, when a woman couldn't see a 5-year-old boy leaning over behind her car and ran over him as she backed out of a parking stall. The kindergarten student is hospitalized at Wesley Medical Center, recovering from internal injuries. But the number of cases in which a child is killed in a "front-over" accident has mushroomed in recent years, Fennell said, forcing advocates to study the issue more closely."What a lot of it is tied to is the dramatic change in the vehicle mix," Fennell said. "It wasn't five years ago, we were all driving sedans. But over 50 percent of the vehicles purchased since then are classified as light trucks: minivans, SUVs, pickup trucks." Those vehicles are bigger and higher off the ground -- making it tougher to see a toddler in front of them."You just have these visibility problems," Fennell said. "We're driving blind, and that's
where these incidents are happening."

Thursday's deadly outcome was the result of a convergence of factors, officials said: a young child, a flawed store layout and a vehicle with a sizable blind zone. It was only natural for the boy to want to catch up to his grandmother and twin brother."When you're 3, everything's a race -- everything's a competition," Fennell said. Customers leaving the restaurant walk next to a wall that is part of an enclosed "play zone" that juts about 4 feet into the parking lot. That wall blocks the view of both pedestrians and motorists entering the drive-through lane, Wichita police Sgt. Bruce
Watts said. "You have to go right out to the edge of the building and peek around the corner," Watts said. "It's kind of a hazardous little deal right there." And yet it's not uncommon for restaurant drive-through lanes to be very close to the doors used by walk-in customers. In fact, such designs are becoming more numerous -- particularly among fast-food franchises, said Keith Diaz Moore, associate professor of architecture at the University of Kansas. "What they're removing is any sense of buffer between where the car is and where your entry is to a building," Diaz Moore said. "If you think of most buildings, we have some kind of setback from traffic -- whether it's concrete or grass. Those are for
safety reasons." Those setbacks make it easier for drivers and pedestrians to see each other, Diaz Moore said, and can buy valuable time to avoid collisions. Property designs for many restaurants using drive-through lanes "seem to violate a lot of traffic safety principles that we certainly expect for our streets and (public) buildings, "he said. "I'm not quite sure why we don't expect it from our private property designs."

Car firms stalling on child safety?

February 24, 2007 || ELLEN ROSEMAN
A two-year-old girl died in Calgary this week after her head became caught in the power window of a sports-utility vehicle. Left alone in the idling car while her mother was doing an errand, she had been unbuckled from her car seat by an older brother (who then fell asleep). This tragic death gives rise to a question. Since power windows are now a standard feature in most cars, can they be made safer for children? Janette Fennell is the founder of a non-profit group, Kids and Cars (kidsandcars.org). She wants all cars to have power windows that automatically reverse if something gets in the way. Auto manufacturers already use an auto-reverse mechanism for power-operated accessories – such as windows, sliding doors and trunk latches – in some high-end vehicles. She hasn't won the fight yet. But her lobbying efforts have led to a U.S. law requiring auto makers to use a safer switch to activate power windows, starting in the 2009 model year. Older cars, such as the 1996 Chevrolet Blazer involved in the Calgary accident, have a toggle switch that responds to pressure when a child leans against it or stands on it. In the future, cars will be equipped with a flush-mounted switch that must be pulled up or out to raise the power windows.
General Motors Corp. has built the safer switch into many of its 2007 and 2008 vehicles.

Fennell accuses North American auto makers of dragging their feet on design features that will prevent child deaths.
In Europe, 80 per cent of vehicles are manufactured with automatically reversing power windows – compared to 20 per cent of North American vehicles. And European and Japanese vehicle makers have used the safer lift switch to raise power windows for the past 10 years. Fennell's passion for child safety around cars came from a personal experience. She and her husband were living in San Francisco in 1995, when they were robbed at gunpoint and forced into the trunk of their car. They were left for dead in a deserted area When the couple managed to get out of the trunk, they found their nine-month-old infant son safe at their home. "The abductors had thrown him, still in his car seat, onto the front lawn. His life was spared," she says in an interview from her home in Leawood, Kan.
The couple later discovered that many children had died after locking themselves in car trunks. So they put together the Trunk Releases Urgently Needed Coalition and spent four years lobbying for new legislation. "We made sure there was a trunk release built into all vehicles built in 2002 and later, with a handle lit by phosphorus to make sure you could see it," she said. Fennell kept hearing from parents who told her about other tragic deaths. That led her
to start Kids and Cars, a national organization run by volunteers who compile data on accidents involving children.

She gained a valuable partner – Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine – which started a campaign called Safe Cars for Kids. Besides window strangulation, the campaign focuses on deaths caused by cars backing up in residential driveways. In 70 per cent of these fatalities, a parent or close
relative is the driver behind the wheel. Auto makers can help prevent such accidents with technologies such as rear-detection obstacle sensors, already available in many luxury cars. "Every car should be made with the latest child-safe technology," says the consumer group. Of course, parents still have a responsibility to keep their children safe. This means never leaving them alone, not even for a minute, in or around parked cars. But simply blaming parents for poor judgment is not the answer, says Phil Edmonston, author of the Lemon-Aid used car guides. "Death or serious injury is too high a price to pay for a moment's inattention," he says. "We need mandatory safety features that protect children from these kinds of hazards, even if they involve parental stupidity." Fennell advises parents always to engage the lock mechanism on power windows so children can't play with them. Finally, be aware that the power windows in many vehicles can be operated after the car is turned off and the key is removed from the ignition.
In many vehicles, they keep working until a car door is opened
.