If you’re ever tempted by not wear your seatbelt, highway officials have a
message for you: If you don’t buckle up for yourself, then do it for the ones
you love.
Robert Hull, Director of Traffic & Safety with the Utah Department of
Transportation says more seatbelt safety will help Utah achieve zero fatalities
on the roadways.
Traffic safety officials released the 2011 fatal crash report earlier this month.
Utah traffic fatalities are at the lowest point they have been since 1974, with
233 fatalities, a 20 percent drop since 2006. While officials are pleased with
the drop, no one and no organization can be satisfied until the number of
fatalities drops to zero.
· Utah has an 89.2 percent seat belt usage rate—yet the 11 percent who do
not buckle up accounted for more than 30 percent of the traffic fatalities in
2011 alone.
· In addition to detailing the fatal crash statistics, UDOT, UHP and Zero
Fatalities released a new six-minute educational video on the importance of
buckling up, as told through the story of Ashli Hendricks, whose father was
killed in a car crash in which he was not buckled up. The video is called,
“Buckle up for the ones you love.” It speaks to those who don’t wear seat
belts, making a point that maybe a seat belt isn’t important to you, but you
are important to your family, so buckle up for them. People who don’t buckle
up risk more than their own safety, their actions will have long-lasting
impacts on the loved ones they leave behind. In fact, one out of three
fatalities on Utah’s roads could be avoided by wearing seat belts.
About Zero Fatalities
Zero Fatalities is a united effort among various agencies, organizations and
concerned citizens to save lives on Utah’s roads. Led by the Utah Department
of Transportation, Zero Fatalities aims for ‘zero’ deaths on Utah’s roads by
focusing on the top five behaviors killing people on Utah’s roads. These
behaviors include drowsy driving, distracted driving, aggressive driving,
impaired driving and not buckling up.
View the new video, Buckle Up for the Ones You Love at
http://ut.zerofatalities.com/
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