Safety should be everyone’s top priority this Memorial Day weekend, one of the deadliest holiday periods. We are reminded that “saving a life is a snap.” Mothers Against Drunk Driving encourages everyone on the road to use seat belt and child safety seats and to use them properly.
Seat belts are the most important lifesaving equipment in your vehicle, but they only work if you take the time to use them correctly. It takes only a second to snap the buckle on a seat belt, but the benefits can last a lifetime.
Over one-third of all Americans — and an astonishing 40 percent of children – still don’t use their seat belts or child safety seats.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration developed a national initiative to increase seat belt use. The plan calls for building and using public-private partnerships, enacting stronger state laws, encouraging active enforcement of existing laws, and educating the public.
You have much to lose if you do not buckle up. Using a seat belt will halve your chances of being killed or badly injured in a serious crash and using a child safety seat will improve your child’s chance by nearly 70 percent.
Let’s Buckle Up, South Carolina! for the Memorial Day holiday and all year round. Commit ourselves to wearing seat belts on every trip, ensuring that everyone who rides in cars is buckled up.
Margaret Brackett
Newberry