FMCSA Administrator Hill Shares Safety Message From NASCAR’s Rusty Wallace

This year, Rusty Wallace has been helping us get the word to commercial motor vehicle drivers on the lifesaving importance of wearing safety belts.   A poster and a TV and radio announcement can be downloaded here.

I have asked Rusty to contribute a message specifically for “The Fastlane.” Here’s Rusty in his own words:

Hi everyone, NASCAR Champion Rusty Wallace here, reminding you to always be ready and be buckled. 

Buckling your safety belt only takes a few seconds, but it can save lives and prevent life-changing injuries to you, to your loved ones and to others.

Trust me, I know this first hand.  After flipping down the backstretch at Daytona over 20 times in 1993 and then over 30 times at Talladega the same season, there is no way that I’d be alive to write this today if I didn’t make it a point to buckle up each and every time I get into a vehicle.

Like many of you, our race car transporter drivers are on the road for hundreds of thousands of miles each year and we insist on them being buckled up every single time they get on the road.  As professional drivers, they have to remember that their safety belt not only helps them during a crash, but helps them to avoid a crash, by keeping them in position, behind the wheel and in control.

Look, it’s pretty simple to me; if you don’t buckle up behind the wheel, you’re endangering both yourself and everyone around you.  There‘s no reason not to wear your safety belt. 

In 2006, 805 occupants of large trucks were killed in crashes. If you don’t wear your safety belt, you’re increasing your chances of becoming one of them, it’s that simple.  It’s as black and white as this: if you don’t want to die, wear your safety belt.  Period.

-Rusty

Comments

[Sammy]

I am glad you are reminding people about the importance of using safety devices while driving. At the same time, I am deeply concerned, as is Congress, that the D.O.T. has failed so miserably to implement and to enforce mandated drug testing regulations throughout the transportation industry. I have pleaded, in vain, with officials to examine gross violations including intentional misrepresentations by SAPS, including an MRO. I have an internal memo that reveals two high ranking authorities discussing how to lie and block email transmissions. Officals responsible for investigating alleged violations perpetrated from within the D.O.T. itself, routinely dismiss complaints without a proper review. Even as new data becomes available, suggesting serious conflicts of interest and other problems, at best one might receive a reply of a smug indifference.

[Jim Grapes]

Really! After all this time since belts were mandatory people still don't wear them - amazing. Maybe the standard PSA format isn't effective. Check out "Made to Stick" by the Heath brothers.

[NASCAR Shop Scott]

I used to be one of those people who said that seat belts were restrictive and uncomfortable. After being required to wear one at my last job (the car reported you if you didn't), it became an automatic reflex when getting into any car.

I don't even notice I'm strapping myself in anymore and certainly don't even notice I am wearing one while driving.

Do yourself and your loved ones the greatest favor of all, people. If you are not wearing a seatbelt, DO IT! After a couple of weeks, it will become second nature and you won't even notice it is there!