Buckle Up! RI traffic safety leaders: 58% of 2023 local fatalities were not wearing a seat belt

Photo: Pamela Bhatia, Artistic Images

Rhode Island’s Traffic Safety leaders held a news conference ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday to deliver a clear message to Rhode Island motorists: “buckle up.”

“We are here today to remind all Rhode Islanders that the single most important thing they can do is to buckle up before heading out on the roads,” said Colonel Darnell S. Weaver, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and Director of the Department of Public Safety. “Not only is it the safe thing to do, but it’s also the law.”

“Wearing a seat belt can improve your chances of surviving a crash by as much as 50 percent. It’s such a simple, easy, action we can all take to protect ourselves,” Director Alviti said. “This year and every year we implore people to make safe driving their highest priority. It is far more important to get your family to Thanksgiving dinner, and make it home safely, than texting, speeding or having an extra drink before you hit the road.”

“As police officers, we are disturbed by the uptick in Rhode Island traffic fatalities and it is especially heartbreaking to have a death in your community that could have been prevented with a seat belt,” said Colonel Bradford Connor, Warwick Chief of Police and Vice President of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association. “During the holidays we will have extra patrols out to identify impaired drivers, speeders and distracted drivers and we will also be reminding everyone to buckle up.”

Background 

1. As of today, there have been 67 traffic-related fatalities in Rhode Island, compared to 45 on this date in 2022.

2. Of the 2023 fatalities, 41 were occupants of motor vehicles and 58% were not wearing a seat belt. 

3. In the U.S. in 2021, 26,325 passenger vehicle occupants were killed. About 50% of those killed were not buckled.

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The reasons to wear a seat belt are clear:

1.      Buckling up helps keep inside your vehicle.  Being ejected from the vehicle in a crash is almost always deadly. 

2.      Air bags are not enough to protect you; in fact, the force of an air bag can seriously injure or even kill you if you’re not buckled up.

3.      Improperly wearing a seat belt, such as putting the strap below your arm, puts you and at risk.

Editor’s Note: Parents of children in car seats and booster seats – take that important moment when rushing from one house or store to another – make sure your child is properly secured.