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What's Holding You Back?
The Ohio Department of Public Safety, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Governor's Highway Safety Office are teaming with local law enforcement to increase
seat belt use. The "What's Holding You Back?" campaign encourages Ohioans to buckle up every trip, every time in an emotional
message designed to make people think about life without loved ones who may be lost in vehicle crashes where belts weren't used. Observational survey
facilitated by the Governor's Highway Safety Office showed that the inaugural year of the What's Holding You Back? campaign
had been successful in raising seat belt usage significantly in targeted regions. Our goal is to increase seat belt usage and to save lives. According to the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), raising seat belt usage rates by 5 percent would save 40 lives every
year. Raising the rate by 10 percent would save 82 lives. Last year, more than half of all Ohioans who died on our
roadways in motor vehicle crashes were unbuckled. While a seat belt may not have prevented all of these deaths, experts predict it would
have saved many. One person dies in a fatal crash every 13 minutes; 114 people die every day; 40,000 people die every year. In a 23-year span, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) estimated seat belts saved the lives of more than a 100,000 people . That's more than the entire population of
Youngstown, Ohio and equals the populations of Marion, Athens and Massillon, combined. In 1999, nearly 19,000 unrestrained drivers and passengers died
in traffic crashes – more than 3,000 of them were children. In that same year, more than 60 percent of the children killed in traffic
crashes were completely unrestrained. You can't put a price tag on the real losses though: the loss of someone's mom, someone's dad, or someone's child. Seventy-five percent of all serious motor vehicle accidents
occur within 25 miles of a person's home. With those odds, you have a better chance of having a crash during a quick trip to the grocery store
for a gallon of milk. But roads and drivers are unpredictable. If you knew you were going to be in a crash on a certain day, at a certain time, you would, without a doubt, buckle your
belt. Why gamble with your life? Our mission is to save lives. Wearing a seat belt and insisting that those who travel with you
buckle up is the easiest thing you can do to protect yourself, your friends and your family. Beg, plead, even get mad. Do whatever it takes
to change the deadly bad habit of not buckling up every trip, every time. If you don't,
"What's
holding you
back?"
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