11/24/2015
Reed Hollinshead
ITD Communication
208-334-8881
reed.hollinshead@itd.idaho.gov
REMINDER: Winter storms coming, drive safely this holiday season and buckle up
BOISE -- The National Weather Service is predicting 4-6 inches of snowfall with occasional wind gusts in south-central and southeastern Idaho, beginning early tomorrow morning. Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel times of the year, and more drivers on the road increase the likelihood of crashes. The
Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) encourages everyone to drive safe
and buckle up.
“More than half the drivers and passengers being
killed in crashes aren’t wearing seat belts,” said Sherry Jenkins, with
ITD. “That’s a problem. Wearing a seat belt is the single most
important thing anyone can do to protect themselves in the event of a
motor-vehicle crash.”
ITD’s Office of Highway Safety estimates
that wearing a seat belt saved 54 lives on state roadways in 2014. An
additional 34 lives could have been saved if everyone had been buckled
up.
The United States Department of Transportation's National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that proper seat
belt use reduces the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passengers by
nearly half, and the risk of moderate to serious injury by 50 percent.
Nationwide,
younger drivers, ages 21 to 34, are the most likely to be unbuckled in a
fatal crash. In 2013, young drivers showed the highest percentage (55
percent) of occupants killed who were unrestrained.
NHTSA data
also reveals that males are more likely to be unbuckled than females in
a fatal crash. Fifty-four percent of the males killed in crashes in
2013 were not buckled up, as compared to 41 percent for females.
“For
those people who already buckle up every time: Thank you,” said
Jenkins. “For them, this campaign serves as a reminder. But for those
people, who still don’t buckle up for whatever reason, remember that
buckling a seat belt is one of the simplest and safest things you’ll
ever do. It can save your life.”