Nationwide: Strong on Safety from the Start

There was a time when Detroit focused more on horsepower than safety − when muscle cars were king and safety features were an afterthought at best.

Now consumers demand protection and car manufacturers embrace this trend, touting safety as a real selling point. The vast majority of people buckle up, and laws and common sense have cracked down on drunk driving. For more than 40 years, Nationwide® has helped bring about these changes. Why? Because our legacy is about helping to protect what matters most to people − family, home and other assets.

A little Nationwide® history
1950 – Nationwide was the first insurance company to offer a discount for completing a driver safety course.
1963 – We were the first insurer to offer an incentive for seat-belt use.
Early 1970s – Nationwide campaigned on behalf of airbag technology, first by assigning senior personnel the first 36 airbag-equipped Chevrolet Impalas and then by offering one of the first discounts related to airbags.
1992 – Nationwide helped develop and support the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Vehicle Research Center, which is dedicated to educating consumers about car safety.
Nationwide has a long-standing partnership with MADD, one of the nation’s most effective advocacy organizations, to fight drunk driving.
What are we doing today?
Today, we’re reaching out more than ever and educating people about safety − in their homes, in their cars and in their businesses.

2006 – Nationwide is honored by the National Safety Council for its role in the national Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign, which helped increase seat-belt usage from 61 percent to 82 percent and helped boost child-seat usage from 60 percent to 90 percent. 
That same campaign helped reduce the airbag-related death rate of children by 96 percent.
2006 – Nationwide, along with MADD, launched THINK, a friend-to-friend program that encourages students to commit to sober driving throughout the entire year.
2007 – Nationwide brings national attention to the problem of DWD, or Driving While Distracted, by releasing survey data showing more than 80 percent of drivers multitask behind the wheel.
We are working to pass laws that require the use of an interlock device by convicted drunk drivers to ensure they are sober before getting behind the wheel.
Nationwide is committed to working with the Institute for Business and Home Safety to build an Insurance Center for Building Safety Research, which will lead to safer homes through better testing of construction techniques and materials.
Find business safety help right here
Nationwide wants your small business to be safe, too. Visit our online risk-assessment tool, our 300 online safety courses and the Open for Business disaster-planning toolkit from the Institute for Business and Home Safety.