Tuesday, November 30, 2010

We Need Your Ideas to Click

We need your help. Seat belt use in Missouri has remained relatively stagnant for the past six years, with seat belt use fluctuating only slightly between 75 percent and 77 percent since 2004. The national average is 85 percent. It is even more concerning when we look at specific groups of people in our state like truck drivers who are at 64 percent, or teen drivers who are at 66 percent.

Engineering, enforcement, education and emergency services are effective and necessary, but are no longer moving the numbers in the direction they need to be headed. We need some new and innovative ways to get Missourians to buckle up.

If you have a crazy, wild, might-just-work idea for increasing seat belt use, we want to hear it! Tweet @saveMOlives, post it to our Facebook or send an e-mail to savemolives@modot.mo.gov.

You are 42 times more likely to die in a crash if you are not wearing your seat belt. In 2009, 880 people were killed in traffic crashes. Of those killed, 67.2 percent were not wearing a seat belt. For more information, videos and statistics on the benefits of seat belts visit www.savemolives.com.