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PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
South Carolina motorists
under the age of 21 typically experience a high rate of traffic crash
fatalities, and head and spinal cord injuries resulting from their failure
to observe the state's occupant protection and alcohol laws. In 1998,
of 531 passenger car occupants killed in traffic crashes, 327 were unrestrained.
Further, of a total 638 drivers fatally injured in motor vehicle crashes,
154 had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.1 or greater. The under
21 age group represented the third highest group of drivers involved
in traffic collisions with a probable cause of alcohol or drugs. Clearly,
youthful drivers who combine alcohol and drugs, fail to use occupant
protection devices, and then operate motor vehicles are at high risk
for traffic crash injuries and fatalities.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The Buckle Down and
Buckle Up program was developed in 1996 by the Babcock Center, a
private, non-profit agency, to prevent fatalities and significant head
and spinal cord injuries, and to reduce the number of alcohol-related
motor vehicle crashes experienced by youth under age 21. Objectives
of the program are to:
- Increase
seat belt use by 5 percent among the student populations of 35 high
schools in the counties of Aiken, Cherokee, Calhoun, Chesterfield,
Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland and
Sumter
- Support
the employment of a part-time Project Specialist
- Conduct
a minimum of five training sessions per month on seat belt safety,
and problems associated with impaired driving in the 35 designated
public high schools
- Influence
15,000 high school students in the 35 targeted high schools, with
educational and motivational messages
- Collect
data before and after program presentations at targeted high schools,
to determine the percentage of seat belt use at each school, and the
impact of the program
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The
Babcock Center provides services to people with mental retardation,
autism, head and spinal cord injuries. Although the agency is important
in helping disabled people become more productive and independent, its
primary mandate is to prevent or reduce the occurrence of these disabilities,
where possible. As a result, Babcock Center staff created Buckle
Down and Buckle Up to target the age group most at risk for head
and spinal cord injuries resulting from motor vehicle use—drivers
under 21
The Buckle
Down and Buckle Up program targeted 35 high schools in eleven South
Carolina counties, through the implementation of an educational and
motivational program encouraging the use of safety belts and the avoidance
of intoxicating substances while operating motor vehicles. Each school
was provided with a ribbon tree display which included a sign with a
message encouraging students to obey posted speed limits and avoid alcohol
and drug use while driving. Signs were erected near a prominent tree
on campus, and ribbons of varying colors were placed in the tree to
represent the number of traffic fatalities in each school's county during
the school year. This served as a visual reminder to students about
the senselessness of traffic fatalities.
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