On average, about 120 people who died in traffic crashes each year in Maryland were not wearing their seat belts.
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“Drivers are responsible for their passengers”. From 2010 to 2014 seat belts saved almost 63,000 lives. If you want to avoid serious injury, death or a citation this Memorial Day holiday, buckle up.
A Kent Island woman whose son was killed in a 2013 auto crash joined state and federal highway safety officials Tuesday in Baltimore County to kick off the annual campaign to highlight seat belt laws.
“As a police officer, there is nothing worse than notifying a family that they have lost a loved one and knowing that the loss could have been prevented if they had simply buckled their seat belt”, stated Baltimore County Police Chief James W. Johnson. The campaign is created to teach awareness of the added dangers of operating a motor vehicle without using the safety restraints that are provided with the vehicle.
Unrestrained fatalities increased statewide from 383 in 2014 to 413 in 2015, according to PennDOT.
The Owensboro Police Department has been getting the word out about the importance of seat belt use to the community through its Buckle Up Owensboro, Seat Belts Save Lives campaign. Or, consider the rollover crash, which is so much more prevalent on rural roadways than city streets. However, the percentage of properly restrained 5- to 13-year olds is only 82 percent. They are more likely to injure themselves and other passengers in a crash, if not buckled up. “Nor will there be animals in the road or a mechanical or other circumstance that will cause them to suddenly slow or veer out of their lane”.
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In 2015, more than 43 percent of those who were killed in crashes in vehicles where seat belt use is required chose not to wear their seat belts.
