Nationwide Supports National Crackdown On Drivers Who Don't Buckle Up Children
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company announced its support of a national mobilization over the Thanksgiving holiday to protect children with the enforcement of child passenger safety laws. More than 5,000 law enforcement agencies across the nation are conducting the 1998 wave of the Operation ABC Mobilization: America Buckles Up Children—the largest coordinated crackdown on drivers who don't buckle up children.
Nationwide joins more than 1,000 organizations across the country that endorse the intensive lifesaving enforcement effort.
"Nationwide has been a long-time advocate for highway auto safety in Ohio and across the United States," said Tim Hoyt, vice president of safety for Nationwide. "The new national goals for seat belt use are ambitious, but obtainable with strong coordinated leadership from the top and aggressive dedication to spend resources only on methods proven effective in raising seat belt and child safety seat use," said Hoyt.
The Thanksgiving Operation ABC Mobilization comes on the heels of an extremely successful Mobilization last Memorial Day. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) observational surveys before and after the May 1998 Mobilization—conducted around Memorial Day—showed six million more people buckling up.
If these Americans continue to use their seat belts, an estimated 670 lives could be saved annually. In addition, a survey by the National Safety Council showed fatalities went down by more than 35 percent during the Mobilization/Memorial Day holiday period.
"Although officers enforce the law, Nationwide stands firmly behind the lifesaving message each ticket delivers," said Hoyt. "Nationwide is not only an employer, we're parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles who want to protect children.
"The Operation ABC Mobilization is the kind of broad community-based movement our nation needs to save children's lives and protect them from injury," Hoyt added.
Studies consistently show that the best way to get children buckled up is to get adults buckled up. According to observational data from the National Highway Traffic Administration, when a driver buckles up, children are buckled up 87 percent of the time. However, when a driver is unbuckled, child belt uses drops to only 24 percent. That is why officers are strengthening enforcement of adult belt laws during the Operation ABC Mobilization.
"Tens of thousands of law enforcement officers in all 50 states will be out in force protecting children from the greatest danger they face—being unrestrained in a crash," said Janet Dewey, executive director of the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign, sponsor of the Operation ABC Mobilization. "We know these officers are energized by the ground swell of support from companies like Nationwide and others across the country," said Dewey.
Many drivers just don't believe they'll be in a crash, so they don't put on their own seat belt or make sure their children are buckled up. The possibility of being stopped and ticketed is what it takes for many drivers to protect children by always buckling them up.
Research shows that the lack of adult belt use endangers babies and those not buckling up are more likely to improperly place babies in the front seat. This places them at serious risk of being injured or killed by an air bag. Almost all children who have died from air bag related injuries were in the front seat completely unrestrained, improperly restrained or were infants riding in a rear-facing infant seat, according to NHTSA.
"In addition to getting kids buckled up, we must get the word out to parents that all children 12 and under belong properly buckled up in the back seat—especially in a vehicle equipped with air bags," said Dewey. "Most crashes happen within a few miles from home. That's why it is important to secure everyone in the vehicle every time and on every trip," Dewey added.
Nationwide has demonstrated its support through organizational leadership and financial sponsorship of the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign and other seat belt and child passenger protection projects in various states.
"Nationwide believes the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign has helped state governments and law enforcement agencies to more aggressively enforce child-restraint and seat belt legislation and this is motivating behavioral changes," said Hoyt.
The message is as simple as ABC—A-air bag safety. B-buckle everyone. C-children in the back seat.