Teens More Likely to be Killed in Unbelted Crashes; Reenactment Demonstrates Seat Belts Save Lives – Day and Night          
          
(May 19, 2009) –The Maryland State Highway Administration’s Safety Office, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Baltimore County Police Department today staged a mock crash in front of 200 freshmen, sophomores and juniors at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel High in Essex to drive home the message that “seat belts save lives.” The crash scene featured cadets from the Baltimore County Police Department filling the role of unbelted vehicle occupants and was part of a two-hour long educational program aimed at increasing teen driver safety.          
          
"These young men and women are in a crucial stage of their lives,” began Chief James Johnson of Baltimore County Police Department. “Being new drivers or within a couple years of getting their license, the best habit they can form is to wear their seat belt on every ride. Besides getting a ticket and possibly losing their license for a seat belt violation, crashes are the number one killer of teenagers.”           
          
Maryland has one of the highest safety belt usage rates in the nation at 93.3 percent, but 58 percent of those killed nationally were not wearing a seat belt. Among passenger vehicle occupants 4 and older in 2007, seat belts saved an estimated 15,147 lives. An additional 5,024 lives could have been saved if seat belts were worn at the time of every crash.           
          
“Seat belt use among teens is a national problem,” stated NHTSA Region 3 Administrator Elizabeth Baker, Ph.D. “They are novice drivers and in general, are less likely to wear their seat belt, especially at night when seat belt use can drop by as much as 31 percent from use during the day.”          
          
Serious injury and death may be the ultimate consequences for not wearing a safety belt, but even for those who escape a fatal crash the economic costs of motor vehicle crashes are staggering. Every year motor vehicle crashes cost Maryland approximately $1.4 billion.          
          
In fact, the most recent data available shows that roughly 66 percent of Maryland drivers killed while not wearing seat belts at night were between 19 and 34 years old. In 2007, more than 70 percent of male passenger vehicle occupants between the ages of 18 and 34 who were killed in crashes were NOT wearing seat belts.           
          
“The time you take to buckle your seat belt is the most important time you will spend in your vehicle,” said Maryland State Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen. “Traffic crashes and the resulting injuries and fatalities destroy lives. Every motorist in Maryland has the means to protect themselves – slow down, drive sober, and always wear your seat belt – day and night, front seat and back.”           
          
Today’s effort was a part of Maryland’s Click it or Ticket mobilization, a national and statewide effort to promote the use of seat belts and to raise awareness of Maryland’s primary seat belt law. Increased law enforcement activities, including seat belt checkpoints, will be conducted nationwide during the 2009 Click It or Ticket mobilization. Paid national and State advertising supports the mobilization by promoting the life-saving benefits of regular seat belt use, especially at night, to all motorists.           
          
“The proper use of a seat belt - low across the lap with the shoulder strap over the collar bone - reduces the risk of fatal injury in a crash by up to 60 percent and is your best defense against a drunk or aggressive driver,” stated Vernon F. Betkey, Chief of the Maryland Highway Safety Office and Chairman of the Governor’s Highway Safety Association.           
          
Buckle-up is the first of five major keys to save lives on roadways presented in the acronym B-SAFE: Buckle up, Slow down – speeding kills, Always drive sober, Focus, Everyone share the road – everyone gets home, which is the principle message of the State’s Choose Safety for Life campaign.          
          
To learn more about the Click It or Ticket or Choose Safety for Life campaigns and the lifesaving benefits of wearing your seat belt, please visit www.choosesafetyforlife.com. Additional Click It or Ticket information can be found at www.nhtsa.gov.           
          
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