SAVED BY THE BELT
Since 2004 the Illinois Department of Transportation, along with the Illinois State Police and local police departments, have honored Illionis residents who have been involved in serious crashes and survived because they wore their seat belt. Just yesterday, twenty awards were given out to safety belt-wearing survivors of traffic accidents in Naperville. The program, coined "Saved by the Belt," is a program that raises traffic accident awareness and award victims of traffic accidents who were wearing their seat belts at the time of their collision.
Nationally, about 81% of the public wears seat belts. In Illinois, the average is much higher, with roughly 90.5% of the people using their seat belts. This high percentage translates into hundreds of lives saved each year. In fact, former I-DOT Secretary Tim Martin commented in 2004, when the program began, that people are 50% more likely to survive a serious crash by doing something as simple as buckling up.
While I-DOT recognizes that Illinois has an admirable percentage when it comes to seat belt use, it also acknowledges that there is still work to be done, particularly in the African-American and Hispanic communities. Indeed, car accidents are the leading cause of death for Hispanics ages 1-34 and for African-Americans ages 1-14.
Click here for more information on the Saved by the Belt program. And remember to buckle up!!
