THANKSGIVING TRAFFIC SAFETY MESSAGE

TIGHTEN YOUR BELT FOR THIS TURKEY DAY
By Chris Huffman, past President of the American Institute for Public Safety

During this Thanksgiving holiday weekend more miles are driven than any other holiday during the entire year. The desire to spend time with family and friends to reflect and give thanks for a safe and prosperous year means more to all of us than ever before.

It is extremely important for all of us to achieve 100% seat belt usage for all drivers and passengers this weekend in order to keep safe and save lives. Seat belts are the single most effective safety device in preventing serious injuries and reducing fatalities. An estimated 12,000 lives are saved by seat belts each and every year.

 This may sound simple, but do you actually realize that your body is going the same speed as your vehicle? If you are traveling at sixty miles per hour and your car comes to a sudden halt, your body that was also traveling at sixty needs to come to a stop as well. If you are not wearing your seatbelt, your body will be stopped by the steering wheel, windshield, dashboard or any other object with which you may come in contact. If you do not wear your belt you have a good chance of being ejected from your vehicle and having a tree, pavement or another vehicle or structure bring you to a screeching painful and perhaps fatal halt. In fatal crashes, 75% of passengers who were totally ejected from their vehicle were killed.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently announced the national average seat belt usage is at an all time high of 75%. This increase has been achieved by a combination of initiatives. Many states have passed either primary or secondary seat belt laws and through public awareness campaigns such as “Click it or Ticket” increase belt usage to reduce fatalities. If the national average could change from 75% to 90% an additional 9,000 lives would be saved and countless injuries eliminated.

Some people have developed an attitude that if my car has airbags then I do not need to wear a seat belt. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. The facts are that seat belts and air bags work in concert with one another. If you are not wearing a seat belt and you are in a crash, the seat belt keeps your body from moving around inside the car. When you have your seatbelt on and the airbag deploys, your body is in the correct position to receive the benefit of the airbag. If you do not wear your belt and your body is now moving around inside the car when the bag deploys, it could actually cause serious injury to you because now your head and or chest are not in the proper position to receive the protection the bag offers.

 In many cases, more serious injuries can occur due to the angle of the bag or the distance between the bag and the body resulting in causing injury instead of prevention. This is exactly why children in car seats must ride in the rear seat because their bodies cannot be properly positioned in the front seat to receive protection from the airbag. The angle and distance are not correct and only injury would result. This is also why an adult must wear a seatbelt, to be in the proper position to receive the protection from the deployed airbag.

Speaking of child safety, did you know that child safety seats reduced fatal injuries by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers? In 1999 there were 550 auto fatalities of children under the age of five and 53% of them were not restrained by any means. How can anyone allow a child to ride unrestrained? Adult seat belt use is critical in creating a positive role model for children to follow. Driver education starts when your child takes their first ride with mom and dad and observes their attitudes and behavior behind the wheel.

This Thanksgiving make the conscious choice and risk assessment to wear your seatbelt and insist that all your passengers do as well. Make sure everyone arrives alive to share turkey with their loved ones and also enjoy the leftovers when you get home. Make this the safest holiday season ever by making the emotionally intelligent decision to BUCKLE UP AMERICA!