| Observational
studies conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) show that at any given moment, just about
70 percent of Americans buckle up. Yet, in public opinion surveys,
a much greater majority of Americans report they buckle up all of
the time. Clearly there is a gap between what people say and what
they do. Much of the discrepancy is because many people who
perceive themselves as seat belt users are actually only part-time
seat belt users. This group makes up roughly 20-25 percent of
Americans who use seat belts. They also represent more than half
of the people who are not buckled up at any given moment.
This is not the hard core
group who will never buckle up. These are people who appreciate
the value of seat belts, but not every time they drive. They
don’t wear them for the short ride to the drug store, or in good
weather, or when it might mess up their clothes, or when they are
on familiar roads. They don’t buckle up because they don’t
always perceive the risk as high enough to warrant use of a seat
belt.
In support of Buckle
Up America! Week
and the Operation ABC Mobilization, America Buckles Up Children,
May 22-29, 2000, all safety advocates can assist law enforcement
in their seat belt and child safety seat enforcement efforts by
helping change the risk calculation part-time belt users
make when they drive or ride in a vehicle.
|
|
How
Can We Change The Risk Awareness?
By stressing the following
proven messages, and by taking part in the Operation ABC
Mobilization, we can get kids buckled in and help many
part-time belt users “get in the habit.”
- It’s
illegal to drive without a seat belt in 49 states and the
District of Columbia. Wear your seat
belt or risk a ticket and fine.
- Traffic
crashes can happen at any moment.
The vast majority occur close to home, in your neighborhood,
on your typical route to work, driving your kids to
activities.
- You
may be an excellent driver, but beware.
There are other drivers on the road who are downright
dangerous.
- Buckle
up for those who would be left alone if you were to die. Your
children, your wife or husband, your parents. Think of the
grief your death or disability would cause them.
- It
is critical to set an example for children.
Getting part-time belt users buckled up all the time will have
a major impact on getting kids buckled up as well. The single
greatest predictor of child restraint use in a vehicle is
adult restraint use. In fact, a restrained driver is three
times more likely to restrain a child.
|
|
|
- Traffic crashes can happen at any
moment. The vast majority occur close to home, on familiar roads
in your neighborhood, on your typical route to work, or driving
your kids to activities.
- Beware of aggressive or impaired
drivers. Wearing your seat belt and properly restraining your
children is your best protection from them.
- If you were to die or be
seriously injured in a crash, who would take care of your
children, your wife or husband, your parents? Think of the grief
and hardship your death would cause them.
- In every state it is the law that
your children must be properly restrained. And in every state,
except New Hampshire, it is the law that you, too, must wear your
seat belt. If you are stopped for not following these laws, you
risk a significant ticket and fine.
- Getting part-time belt users
buckled will have a major impact on getting kids buckled up as
well. The single greatest predictor of child restraint use in a
vehicle is adult restraint use. In fact, a restrained driver is
three times more likely to restrain a child.
- Traffic crashes are the leading
cause of death to American children. Each year, over half of all
children who die in crashes are unrestrained. Tragically, nearly
half of these unbuckled children would be alive today if only they
had been properly restrained.
- Infant seats, convertible seats,
and booster seats are 71% effective in saving children’s lives
during crashes. It is critical for parents not to skip the step of
booster seat use by moving their children too quickly into adult
seat belt systems.
- Never place a child in a child
safety seat in the front seat of a vehicle equipped with a
passenger air bag. All children age 12 and under should sit
properly restrained in the back seat.
- The Operation ABC
Mobilization: America Buckles Up Children is the largest-ever
coordinated enforcement effort to locate, ticket and fine drivers
who don’t buckle up children. Officers in and towns across
America will be out in force this week protecting children from
the greatest risk they face: being unrestrained in a crash.
- Motor vehicle crashes are the
leading cause of death for Hispanics through the age of 24 and the
second leading cause of death for Hispanics between the ages of
25-44.
- Motor vehicle crashes are the
leading cause of death for African Americans through the age of
14, and the second leading cause of death for African Americans
between the ages of 15-24.
- Meharry Medical College of
Nashville and the General Motors Corporation conducted a study
that found that 100% seat belt use by African Americans could save
1,300 lives per year and prevent 26,000 injuries, saving nearly
2.6 billion dollars a year.
- Native Americans die and are
permanently disabled from motor vehicle-related injuries at rates
two to three times greater than other Americans. In fact, in some
reservation states, the rates are four to five times higher.
- During Buckle
Up America! Week,
May 22-29, 2000, in support of the Operation ABC Mobilization,
the National Safety Council has established a toll free number the
public can use to report drivers who don’t buckle up kids. If
you witness unbuckled children in a vehicle, the National Safety
Council is asking that you simply take down the state and license
plate number and report it to 1-800-764-5755. Where possible, the
NSC will then send a reminder to the vehicle owner stating that
allowing a child to ride unbuckled is dangerous and illegal, and
that if drivers are caught they could be ticketed and fined.
For more
information, visit the NHTSA web site at
www.nhtsa.dot.gov
|