The Problem
The ProblemPick-up truck occupants are over-represented in motor vehicle crashes. There were 5,801 pick-up truck occupant deaths in year 2004. 1,782 of these deaths occurred in the Southeast alone. Unfortunately, many of deaths could have been prevented simply by putting on a safety belt.
Studies conducted for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) indicate occupants in pick-up trucks consistently have lower
safety belt usage rates than occupants in automobiles, vans and sport
utility vehicles. While there have been steady increases in safety
belt use rates for all types of vehicles, the belt use rate in pick-up
trucks has continued to lag behind other vehicle types.
The disparity in safety belt usage among pick-up truck and passenger car occupants is evident in fatal crash statistics. Information from fatal crashes indicates that three out of four pick-up truck occupants killed in crashes were not wearing a seat belt. In comparison, just about one-half of occupants killed in passenger cars were unbelted.
|
Car
|
Van & SUV
|
Pick-up
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 1998 |
71
|
70
|
59
|
| Fall 2000 |
74
|
74
|
59
|
| Jun-01 |
76
|
75
|
62
|
| Jun-02 |
77
|
78
|
64
|
| Jun-03 |
81
|
83
|
69
|
| Jun-04 |
81
|
83
|
70
|
The Southeast's Buckle Up in Your Truck Campaign is the combined effort of a group of traffic safety professionals, advertisement specialist, researchers and evaluators. This group's primary task is to develop, implement and evaluate a relatively new approach to increasing safety belt usage among pick-up truck occupants across eight states in the southeastern United States. The states are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
The campaign's center piece is the use of targeted television and
radio advertisements to encourage non-belt-users to buckle up. Over
the next year-and-a-half, the campaign will overlay two-week periods
of pick-up safety belt advertisements with current media and enforcement
mobilizations. Intensive enforcement mobilizations in the form of
Selective Traffic Enforcement Programs (sTEPs), like Click It or Ticket,
will immediately follow the periods of pick-up truck advertisements.
To learn more about sTEP type programs, click the follow link - Click It or Ticket
The Southeast's Buckle Up in Your Truck Campaign is a 16 month campaign, whereby program processes and outcomes will be measured and documented. Progress will be measured using a number of data collection methods.
If this campaign is successful, the effort will result in reduced injuries and fatalities on roadways throughout the Southeastern United States. A recent poll found that fewer than half of the states have coordinated programs to improve belt usage among hard to reach pick-up truck occupants (Source: NHTSA) and the time to do more is now.
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