Every year, it's learned that more and more deadly crashes can be avoided by wearing a seatbelt.
This month is Seatbelt Safety and Enforcement Month and multiple organizations in Allen County, such as the Regional Planning Commission, will be working together to ensure drivers stay safe as the holiday season inches closer and closer. Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that the seatbelt usage rate in 2021 was at 90.4%, a number that many want to see improve and not decrease.
"Statistically proven that wearing your seatbelt helps to save your life and whenever you're going about the holiday season, Thanksgiving, Christmas, it's getting darker earlier, there are deer out, we're gonna have ice and snow on the road. A lot more things are going to be out and about as obstacles for safe driving, so the more that we can do to protect ourselves against that the better off we are," said Shaunna Basinger, public outreach and community program planner.
More data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that in 2017, about 14,955 lives were saved by seatbelts.
