Greetings!
The new website is here; the new website is here! Thanks to everyone who provided input on the new look and content. The new Saved by the Belt feature is fun to read. A lot of Nebraskans are walking around with no injuries in their past because of safety belts. It's also interesting to read about the many different circumstances surrounding crashes. Crashes happen in many different ways and usually when you least expect it. No one actually plans to have a crash! The best way to be prepared is to wear your safety belt every trip, every time.
Share YOUR Story
If you have a crash in your past while you were buckled, send us your picture and information about what happened, and we'll post it on our web page. Safety belts can prevent death and injuries!
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| The Lifesavers Conference is held in Portland |
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This year's Lifesavers Conference was held at the Portland Convention Center. Over 2000 attendees had the opportunity to learn about what has worked in other places to improve traffic safety.
One remarkable safety belt success story was from Utah, where the State Patrol adopted a specific high school and were able to document an increase in safety belt use from 72% in the fall up to 92% in the spring. Even more remarkable, the usage rate remained high over the summer and dropped just to 90% the following fall, which can be accounted for by new students entering school in the fall. The troopers held a different activity each month. Activities ranged from parking lot observations with Snickers bars rewards, to an essay contest, to the featured activity in October, which involved throwing pumpkins off the roof of the school and having physics students calculate their speed at impact in the parking lot. They also used the State Patrol's traffic helicopter to deliver the game ball to the Homecoming football game.
Share your results by emailing us at cidri@safenebraska.org! The goal is to increase safety belt use, especially among teens. The troopers in Utah showed that raising the percentage can be done, and it's bound to save some lives. Let's get that kind of success happening in Nebraska!
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Tweens and Safety Belts |
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 Norfolk Middle Schoolers followed up on their visit from Click It with Thank You Cards and a renewed pledge to wear their safety belts. Messages in the cards included: "Thank you for coming to our class and sharing with us about how safe it is to wear a seatbelt." "Thank you for coming to our class. We really enjoyed your presentation. I'm sure we all know now how important it is to wear a seatbelt..." "Thanks for coming and telling us all about wearing our seatbelts. I am sure many people will now wear seat belts when they are driving..."
It's great to hear that these "tweens" have a renewed commitment to wearing safety belts, because statistics show that more than one person from this age group dies in a crash each day in America, and many more tweens--1,267 in 2004 alone--are injured each year.
The major reason for this is all too simple: About half of those who died were not wearing a safety belt.
Click It is available to come to your school to talk about safety belt safety. Call or email us at cidri@safenebraska.org to set up your visit today!
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