Students stress seatbelt safety

CADIZ — As part of an annual “Click It or Ticket” campaign sponsored through the Ohio Department of Public Safety, a group of elementary pupils in Harrison County will be drawing attention to seatbelt safety.

Third-graders are drawing upon their artistic talents to express the importance of using safety restraints in vehicles according to Sgt. Eric Wilson, D.A.R.E. officer for the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department.

He said the pupils were asked to draw and color pictures to be submitted for judging. The top vote-getters will be announced on May 1 and their artwork will be exhibited at the county courthouse.

“Juvenile Court Judge Matthew Puskarich has generously agreed to be our judge,” said Wilson. “A winner will be picked from each elementary school building in Harrison Hills and Conotton Valley schools.”

Schools participating include Bowerston Elementary, Harrison Hopedale, Harrison Jewett, Harrison Lakeland and Harrison Westgate.

Each picture will address seatbelt safety and airbag awareness.

“The students will not only be participating in the program but they will also get an art grade,” Wilson said.

In addition to having their artwork displayed at the courthouse, the winners also will receive a gift basket featuring gift certificates from area restaurants, stuffed animals and D.A.R.E. prizes. The baskets will be supplied by Brewer’s Boutique of Jewett.

Wilson said the third-grade program is being funded through the Governor’s Highway Safety Office, and the sheriff’s department is reimbursed for each pupil who participates.

He said he has conducted the seatbelt safety program for the past eight years and also works with sixth- and seventh-grade pupils in the D.A.R.E. program.

A printout provided to the third-graders as a “jump start” showed the usage of lap/shoulder seatbelts reduced the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent. The paper also said ejection from a vehicle is one of the most injurious events that can happen to a person in a crash.

In fatal crashes in 2006, 75 percent of passenger vehicle occupants who were totally ejected from the vehicle were killed. Only 1 percent of occupants reported to have been using restraints were ejected, compared with 31 percent of unrestrained occupants.

Among passenger vehicle occupants over the age of 4, seat belts saved an estimated 15,383 lives in 2006.

Air bag use, combined with lap/shoulder seat belts, offer the most effective safety protection available, according to studies. The report said air bags are supplemental protection and are not designed to deploy in all crashes. Most are designed to inflate in a moderate-to-severe frontal crash. The additional use of lap/shoulder belts provides additional protection in such crashes.

Air bags have been credited with saving 22,466 people in a 20-year period.

Child safety seats also have been credited in saving nearly 71 percent of infants and 54 percent of toddlers in passenger cars.

A “Click It or Ticket” kickoff is being planned May 1 at the Park and Ride along state Route 151 just off U.S. Route 22.