Message Monday - Buckling up - 3 seconds to save your life
One-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three… CLICK… and you’re good to go.
Something so quick and simple could save hundreds of lives on Iowa’s roadways every year. According to the most recent state seat belt survey, nearly 94 percent of all Iowa drivers and front seat passengers buckle up, which is great.
However, the sad statistic is that at least 126 of the 405 people who died last year in Iowa crashes were unbuckled.
Wearing your seat belt doesn’t guarantee you won’t be killed in a crash, but it does significantly lower your chance of death or serious injury. Of the fatalities where people were not wearing seat belts and were ejected, studies show 75 percent of them would likely be alive today if they had buckled up.
Every day there is a portion of the Iowa DOT’s fatality report dedicated to seat belt use. The statistics can be a little tough to understand. But here are a few key points to keep in mind:
- Some crashes are so horrific that even seat belts won’t save the lives of those involved.
- Of those killed so far this year in Iowa, approximately 41 percent (48 people) were not buckled. In another 17 percent of the deaths, law enforcement officers weren’t able to determine seat belt use.
Take three seconds to greatly improve your chances of surviving a crash - https://youtu.be/YgxXFbMMMD4
The fatality count of 162 is an increase of eight since last Monday. In all of 2016, 405 people were killed on Iowa highways. To see statistics published daily by the Office of Driver Services, go to the daily fatality report at https://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/stats/daily.pdf