Crayons saving lives: kids' art reminds America's truck and bus drivers to buckle up

As it is for many of us, this is one of my favorite times of the year. Of course I love the holidays, but I'm also looking forward to the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt Partnership's annual "Be Ready. Be Buckled." art contest.

Each year our Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and its safety belt partners host this contest for kids who have a friend or relative in the truck or bus industry. Each year, we ask kids everywhere to use their artwork to show truck and bus drivers that safety belts save lives.

And each year, America's kids deliver terrific safety-minded entries.

In 2010, 78 percent of commercial bus and truck drivers wore safety belts while operating behind the wheel. That was up from 74 percent in 2009 and only 65 percent in 2007. This a very positive trend that all of us here at DOT would like to see continue.

Why? It's simple: seat belts save lives.

In 2012, fifth grader Richard He from Parsippany, New Jersey, won in the older category

In fact, safety belts are the single most effective injury prevention component of highway vehicles today. A 2007 review of unbelted commercial motor vehicle driver fatalities and serious injuries indicated that 39 percent of those deaths could have been prevented by safety belt use. As many as 81 percent of moderately to seriously injured drivers could have sustained less severe injuries if they were buckled up.

What does it cost to buckle up and be ready? About three seconds. That means that you could buckle up 20 times a day and still spend a total of only one minute taking the single most effective safety precaution available.

Sophia Chen, a second grader from Edison, New Jersey, won the younger category in 2012.

I think those numbers are compelling, and I'm not alone. The safety experts in the CMV Safety Belt Partnership agree, and so do America's kids. And that's why each year children across the country have picked up a crayon or marker to design these great safety messages.

So if you know someone in grades K through 6 who can wield a crayon, marker, colored pencil, or paint brush, now is the time to get them thinking about the easiest--and most effective--safety step on the road: buckling up.

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To enter the 2013 "Be Ready. Be Buckled." art contest, visit the CMV Safety Belt Partnership.

Comments

[San Diego Mechanic]

Wow those illustrations are cute and they save lives. What could more amazing than that?