Texas stresses seatbelt use

TEXARKANA, Texas (KSLA) — Seatbelts in motor vehicles have been around for more than 50 years, but safety leaders say many drivers and passengers are not heeding the warnings about seatbelt safety.

That’s why the Texas Department of Transportation has a rollover convincer, which simulates what can happen in a rollover vehicle accident when the occupants are not wearing seatbelts. They can be thrown from the vehicle, resulting in serious injury or death.

The convincer was demonstrated Monday, Nov. 14 Texarkana, Texas, as part of National Seatbelt Day.

“Seatbelts can really save lives. It will greatly enhance your chance of surviving a crash,” Heather Deaton, of the Texas Department of Transportation.

But it appears that the trend of buckling up is going the wrong direction in Northeast Texas, she said.

Deaton said “29% of people killed in car crashes in 2020 were not wearing seatbelts; but in 2022, 53% of those killed in crashes were not wearing seatbelts. So that number has really gone up dramatically, and that’s very disturbing to us.”

Twenty-two years have elapsed since there has been a day without a death on Texas roadways, Deaton said. The failure of drivers and passengers to buckle up is a major cause for that streak.

“Our main goal is just to end that streak of daily deaths on Texas roads because we want everyone to go home at the end of the day,” Deaton said.

Copyright 2022 KSLA. All rights reserved.