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Hundreds Expected to Die This Weekend

26 May 1999

Council Calls Motor Vehicle Crashes in America an "Epidemic"

             Motorists Urged to Buckle Up During Holiday Weekend

    ITASCA, Ill., May 26 -- Approximately 130 people will be
fatally injured in motor vehicle crashes during the holiday weekend because
they didn't wear a seat belt, according to estimates from the National Safety
Council.  Overall, the Council estimates 470 people may die in traffic crashes
and an estimated 24,900 will be injured.
    "Motor vehicle crashes are a public health issue -- in fact they're an
epidemic," said Jerry Scannell, president of the National Safety Council. "We
know where, when and how they happen.  We also know that wearing a seat belt
can significantly increase your chances of survival.  There's no excuse for
not wearing a seat belt."
    Seat belts are proven life savers, yet only 70 percent of drivers and
passengers wear them.  The Council is estimating that 329 people will not die
in traffic crashes this weekend because they wore their seat belt.
    "The Council is estimating that 130 people will die this weekend in
traffic crashes because they didn't wear a seat belt," said Scannell.  "That's
like a plane crashing over the weekend.  Unlike a plane crash, you rarely hear
about the lives lost on our roadways.  It's time that America takes notice of
these needless deaths and do something about it."
    The National Safety Council's Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign is
currently conducting the next wave of the Operation ABC Mobilization:  America
Buckles Up Children during Buckle Up America! Week, May 24-31.  More than six
thousand law enforcement agencies in all 50 states and the District of
Columbia are participating in the Operation ABC Mobilization declaring zero
tolerance for unbuckled children.  Drivers failing to restrain their child
passengers will be stopped and enforcement action taken.  Law enforcement
officials nationwide will be stepping up enforcement of child passenger safety
laws -- efforts which will save the lives of children.
    "Although it's the law in all 50 states that children cannot ride
unbuckled, six out of ten children killed in crashes are not restrained," said
Scannell.  "It is time for zero tolerance for unbuckled kids in every state,
every day of the year."
    The Council has conducted similar campaigns for the past two years during
Memorial Day and Thanksgiving holiday weekends.  The U.S. Department of
Transportation credits the campaign with helping to get 19 million more
Americans buckled up in 1998.  They also report that as the first three
Mobilizations were conducted, child restraint use for children ages 1 to 4 has
risen from 60 percent to 87 percent from 1996 to 1998.
    This year's Memorial Day holiday weekend officially begins at 6 p.m.,
Friday, May 28, and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 31.
    The National Safety Council is a nonprofit membership organization
dedicated to protecting life and promoting health.