A little boost from Dearborn

Ford Motor Co. will spend about $15 million in the next year to distribute 1 million child booster seats as part of its Boost America! campaign designed to protect children between the ages of 4 and 8 who are too big for child safety seats and too small to wear adult seat belts. Ford says it will donate 500,000 booster seats to financially needy parents and issue $20 coupons for 500,000 more. The No.2 automaker says it is finalizing the free seat selection process. Ford wants to raise the low level of booster seat usage for the nation's 20 million children between the ages of 4 and 8. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is a partner.