At the Department of Transportation, safety is always our number one priority. And we all know that seatbelt use is absolutely essential to safety on our nation’s highways.
To help drive this message home, the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt Partnership is inviting America's kids to create posters for the 2011 “Be Ready, Be Buckled” art contest. The partnership--comprised of private-sector organizations, associations, and government agencies including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)--encourages commercial drivers to buckle up.
Adam Carr, a sixth grader from Tampa, won the older group for the 2010 contest
Now, good drivers usually don't cause collisions, but at some point, a good truck driver could be involved in a crash caused by a bad driver, bad weather, mechanical failure, or tire blowout. In a crash, wearing a safety belt can prevent injuries and fatalities by protecting against ejection and head or spinal cord damage.
More and more commercial drivers are using their seatbelts, which is great news. From 2003 to 2009, seat belt use jumped from 48 percent to 74 percent. But that's still much lower than the 85 percent of all drivers on the road who wore seatbelts in 2010. And it means too many drivers are ignoring the safety data and not buckling up.
We see this contest as a good way for kids to learn about highway safety. It’s also a chance for them to remind their friends and family members in the commercial driving industry about an easy way to protect themselves from harm.
These questions might help our budding Van Goghs and Picassos get started as they start work on their masterpiece:
- Why is it important to buckle up every time while driving a truck, bus, or other large vehicle?
- How does the motto “Safety Belts Save Lives” apply to bus and truck drivers?
- What does it mean to you for truck and bus drivers to buckle up while on the job?
- What would happen if a truck or bus driver did not buckle up while on the job?
Vijeyta Revankar, a second grader from Seabrook, Texas was the winner of the younger category in 2010
Entries must be mailed or postmarked by Monday, February 28. For more information, please visit the FMCSA website.
We need commercial drivers. The work they do is critical to our national economy. But the kids we're inviting to join our poster contest need their mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and friends to be as safe as possible while on the road.
Cute!
Posted by: Energy Efficiency | February 25, 2011 at 11:10 AM
What a great idea, they're never too young to learn!
Posted by: Vanessa | February 26, 2011 at 09:55 PM
This is a great program and anything we can do to ensure that all drivers, including all commercial vehicle drivers buckle up will be a major help. One thing I have noticed the past couple of years is in the mining industry when large single or tandom trailer dump trucks are used and the truck has a problem like overturning or rolling down a hill, alot of times the driver is killed because he was thrown from or jumped from the cab and was hit be the truck before it stopped. The importance of seatbelt use needs to get to this sector as well.
Posted by: Michael E. Bailey | February 27, 2011 at 03:12 PM
Awww. Wow, what fantastic, young artists. I lost a loved one in a car accident and she wasn't wearing her seatbelt. Keep up the good work. Bill in Portland
Posted by: Bill | March 05, 2011 at 12:09 AM