Kids get lessons in seat belt safety

Boy Scouts of Troop 42 in Red Hook battled each other recently in a race against the clock at the Red Hook High School in a effort to encourage teens to buckle up.

The battle is a fun "buckle up" competition for high and middle school students, with local contests typically conducted by youth organizations or schools, designed to change attitudes about seat belt use. It's a fast-moving event in which teams of four compete to see who can buckle up fastest.

The stop watch starts as teams race to a four-door car from their starting position 25 feet behind the car; team members get in, buckle up and throw their hands in the air until the referee shouts "Rotate!" They unbuckle, get out, rotate clockwise around the car, repeating the process for a total of four buckle ups.

Troop 42 fielded seven teams for the battle.

All came out winners. The Go Green team received a participation award while Rocks received the Sportsmanship award. R.E.D. was recognized as Most Entertaining Team and Best Team Name Awards went to the Pink Lamborghinis and the Crossing Guards.

The Flaming Turnips (Ryan Heitmann, Connor Swanson, Jeremy Taylor, Joseph Spano), with the winning time of 37 seconds, earned the right to represent the troop at the World Championship April 27 in Chatham, Columbia County, in the middle school division.

World championship set

The Leather Belts (Trevor Hendrickson, James Spano, David Hathcock, Tristan Jordan) with a time of 38.7 seconds, advance for the high school division.

"We were very fortunate to receive a grant from Sean's Run First Niagara Bank to help us put on our first battle. The grant enabled us to buy team T-shirts, food and awards," Diane Brent, event coordinator, said.

Attendees also had the chance to watch the rollover simulation presented by New York state Trooper Russell Wright, who demonstrated the effects of not wearing a seat belt in a rollover car crash.

Some also volunteered to ride the state police's "Convincer," which simulates a 5 mph crash.

"Battle of the Belts is a fun, active way to increase awareness amongst teenagers about the importance of wearing seat belts, regardless of whether they are the driver or a passenger in a vehicle," Brent said. "Even though seat belt laws have been in place for as long as our teenagers can remember, statistics still show that many teens still don't buckle up. We think we took some positive steps forward toward changing that statistic."