Last-Minute Reminders

If it weren't for Post-It notes, I wonder if I'd get anything done. I often write reminders to myself and then place the notes in logical spots...at least what I consider logical.

"Hair," says the note, stuck to my steering wheel, reminding me to run by the salon after work for a trim.

"Chicken," says the note on the door leading to my garage. It was supposed to remind me to get food out of the freezer for dinner. Whoops. I missed that one.

Good thing MoDOT has a more permanent reminder at the end of many of its parking lots. Right before I pull out, I see a reminder to buckle up.

Schools, businesses and other organizations can borrow the stencils to encourage visitors to buckle up and Arrive Alive.

The reusable stencils are available on a first-come, first-served basis from MoDOT's seven regional offices. Designs can be painted on concrete or asphalt surfaces in parking lots and driveways of schools and businesses. Those requesting the stencils must provide their own paint and manpower.

A reminder might just help improve traffic safety. As of September 9. traffic fatalities in Missouri are up 9 percent for the year, and 63 percent of those killed in traffic crashes this year were not wearing a seat belt.

For more information about the stencils or other highway safety resources available to help educate students about safe driving practices, call 1-888-275-6636 or log onto http://www.savemolives.com/.

It’s Only 35 mph

“What possesses people to jump off a tower like that?”

Mr. Wonderful, my Olympics-obsessed husband, is amazed by the accomplishments of the athletes who’ve tumbled, swam, shot, rowed and otherwise flashed across our TV screen. He holds a special reverence for the divers.



AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis

 We watched the teams of synchronized platform divers the other night.

Amazing.

It was as if the athletes shared a single nervous system. They approached in tandem, leapt in tandem, spun and twisted in tandem and entered the water together with just as much of a splash as Missouri has seen fall from the skies this summer.

As we gaped in wonder, one of the announcers remarked that the divers strike the water’s surface at 35 mph. Hmmm. That got me thinking.

People sometimes tell me they only use seat belts when they’re on the highway.

You know, because the slow speeds in town can’t really hurt you.

Here’s the thing - if your car is traveling at 35 mph and it strikes another object, everything in the car – groceries, gym bags, people – continues to move at 35 mph for a time…unless it is fastened to the vehicle’s safety cage. The cage crumples as it absorbs the energy of the crash…like the water absorbs the divers’ forward energy.

Would you jump from a 10 meter Olympic platform into an empty pool? It’s only 35 mph.

The Way the Pros Roll

He’s a total gearhead.

If it runs on wheels, he’ll find a way to race it.
His truck is bigger, badder and bolder than any pickup you’ll see on the highway.

Little kids look at him in awe.

Bobby Holman, owner of Team Beast and driver of the Lucas Oil Stabilizer monster truck thrills thousands in his appearances at races across the country. With 1,600 horses under the hood and 27 years of competition under his belt, the man knows what he’s doing.

Holman would never dream of starting the engine of the Stabilizer – or his family SUV – without first buckling his seat belt. He says as much in the announcement he recorded for Missouri’s motorists.

It’s the way the pros roll.

Buckle up. ARRIVE ALIVE.

Still, Buckle Up

An article in the New York Times last Friday talks about new safety standards under discussion for vehicles that would help keep unbelted passengers from flying out of side windows. Car manufacturers would have to add additional or larger airbags to the side windows by 2017, costing approximately $31 per vehicle.

I appreciate the use of every technology available to make vehicles as safe as possible. Traffic statistics prove that ejection from a vehicle is far more likely to cause death or a very serious injury, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that these standards would save nearly 400 lives each year. Certainly, that's a good thing.

One worry, though -- will it make people feel too safe? Will they think that buckling up doesn't matter?

What do you think? Would this technology make you feel like seat belts aren't as necessary?

We hope that no matter what vehicle you're in and what standards are adopted, you'll take the three seconds to ensure you remain safely in place.

Slam Dunk

Sometimes we all do stupid things. Today we’re releasing a new video that shows a kid who’s challenging another guy in a basketball game and betting his dad’s car. Unfortunately for the kid, the other guy is like three feet taller than him. It reminded me of when I was in college and would play pickup basketball games with some of the MU men’s players.

Ok, I’m tall for a woman, but at 5’9” there’s probably still about a foot difference between me and some of those guys. And, if I’m being truthful here, I wasn’t that good either. So, I fouled a lot and ended up with a few chipped teeth… but at least I didn’t bet my dad’s car. It was fun, but probably still kind of stupid. Still, it wasn’t near as stupid as not buckling up. Luckily for me, I always wear my seat belt, and that's a slam dunk for my safety.

Unfortunately for 24 percent of Missourians, they still don’t buckle. In fact, seven out of 10 Missourians killed in traffic crashes are unbuckled. It’s sad, really. It takes a couple of seconds to click your seat belt, and it can save the rest of your life.

In my life, I have a list of stupid things I’ve done about a mile long, but forgetting to buckle up isn’t one of them. So, please Buckle Up and Arrive Alive!

That Was Stupid - Bomb Squad

I’ve played eenie meenie miney moe many times, but never to deactivate a ticking bomb. Check out our very own MacGruber moment of “That was stupid.”

Free gas? Yes please!

With the high price of gas, I cringe every time I fill up my car. Now would be a really nice time to give away $25 gas cards, right? Oh wait - the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety is! And it's really easy to win.

Go to the Save MO Lives Facebook page, pledge to wear your seat belt and be entered to win a $25 gas card donated by Casey's General Store. We have 225 total gas cards, so the odds of winning are in your favor. As are the odds of surviving a crash if you're buckled up!

The contest will run from May 23-June 12, 2011 and is open to Missouri residents 18 years of age and older. No purchase is necessary to win. Only one entry per person is allowed. Seventy-five winners will be randomly drawn each week and announced on the Coalition's website at http://www.savemolives.com/.

What are you waiting for - your car to run out of gas? Buckle and win!

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.

Click It or Ticket Day and Night

How can we get more Missourians to buckle up?

That was the question on everyone’s mind the past two days at the Missouri Seat Belt Summit where safety experts from around the state gathered in Jefferson City to come up with a strategy for improving Missouri’s seat belt usage rate.

Seat belt use in Missouri has remained relatively unchanged in the last six years and consistently below the national average. Missouri has 77 percent seat belt usage, well below the national average of 84 percent. Missouri’s teen seat belt use is even lower at 61 percent. Seven out of 10 Missourians killed in traffic crashes are unbuckled.

Law enforcement officers will be cracking down on motorists who aren’t wearing seat belts May 24-June 6. The Missouri State Highway Patrol was present at the summit and made it clear that there is ZERO tolerance in Missouri for not wearing your seat belt.

Last year during the two-week Click It or Ticket campaign, 188 law enforcement agencies issued 7,243 seat belt and 243 child restraint violations. During the campaign, law enforcement also issued 10,322 speeding violations and made 375 DWI, 187 felony and 241 drug arrests.

Buckle up and encourage your loved ones to do the same. Wearing your seat belt costs you nothing and not wearing it can cost you everything.

Driver Arrested After Unbelted Passenger Dies in Work Zone Crash

A driver has been arrested for vehicular homicide because his unbelted passenger was killed in an early-morning traffic crash in a work zone Monday in the state of Washington. According to the Seattle Times, just after midnight Monday, the driver and his passenger were heading south on Interstate 5 when they crashed through several barrels in a work zone, and slammed into the back of a parked transportation department pickup. And although the driver was belted and he survived, he could pay with the rest of his life for allowing his passenger to ride unbelted.

This story hits close to home, because even though it took place in Washington and not Missouri, it touches on two traffic issues in our state that affect us all: work zones and seat belts. And this situation is especially poignant right now because April 19 kicks off work zone awareness week, which means you’ll be seeing orange barrels all over the state soon.

And unfortunately, crashes in work zones happen more than you may think. In fact, in 2009 there were almost 2,200 crashes in Missouri work zones. Thirteen people were killed in these crashes and another 670 injured. Between 2005 and 2009, 64 people were killed and 4,260 people were injured in Missouri work zones.

Although there are various reasons for work zone crashes like inattention, following too closely, improper lane usage/change, too fast for conditions and failure to yield – the main reason traffic fatalities are so high is because motorists don’t buckle up. In 2009, of the 878 total traffic fatalities, 693 were vehicle occupant fatalities and 67 percent of them were not wearing a seat belt.

I don’t let anyone ride in my vehicle unless they are buckled, period. And I pay attention and follow the signs in work zones. If we all remembered these few rules, we’d have fewer families mourning the loss of loved ones. So remember, Buckle up and Don’t Barrel Through Work Zones. Arrive Alive.

Show Us Your Seat Belt Dance

More than 250 seat belt videos have been posted online in the first round of the Get Your Buckle On video competition which ended Aug. 31.

Many of the videos were filmed in the Highway Gardens Exhibit Hall at this year’s Missouri’s State Fair. Teens, young children and adults all had a blast dancing to the original song, “Get Your Buckle On.”

The winner of the first-round contest will be announced by Oct. 1 as we kick off Get Your Buckle On – Round 2.

Visit www.getyourbuckleon.com/ to check out the videos.

Football Fans, Buckle Up!

With school right around the corner, football teams are gearing up for their next season and fans are ready. No matter what jersey you choose, make sure a seat belt is wrapped securely around it when you're headed to the game.
And if your team is up against a 64-foot player, good luck!

All-Star FanFest 2009

Baseball greats will soon infiltrate Missouri for the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star game. St. Louis will host the event for the first time since 1966, the inaugural season of the previous Busch Stadium.

MoDOT teamed up with the Illinois Department of Transportation and TEAM (Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management) Coalition to promote the importance of designating a sober driver and always buckling up at All-Star FanFest July 10-14.

FanFest features interactive exhibits and attractions for baseball enthusiasts of all ages. Fans can hit against some of the MLB’s best pitchers in the video batting cages, record their own play-by-play and attend free autograph sessions with baseball’s biggest stars.

The MoDOT booth encouraged fans to film a video or take the pledge to follow MLB’s Fan Code of Conduct, never drive impaired, always have a designated driver, and to buckle up and arrive alive. Fans also took souvenir photos in the replica Busch Stadium Cardinals dugout.

Check out the video from our FanFest booth below. You can also check out a number of the Fan Videos that were submitted during FanFest here.

If you are attending the All-Star Game events or watching at a sports bar or restaurant:

• Be a designated sober driver or designate your sober driver before the game begins


• Give your designated sober driver your car keys and your appreciation for making sure you get home safely


• Before you go out, program the numbers for local cab companies in your cell phone, so if you find yourself in need of a ride, it is just one touch away


• Remember, always buckle up and arrive alive.