Detroit’s
(USA) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s ‘Click it or Ticket’
public safety campaign opens this year amid the first increase in fatalities in
five years for unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants.
General
Motors and OnStar are joining in the effort to get people to buckle up whenever
they’re in a vehicle. This kind of an exercise should be done regularly in a
country like India where buckling up in cars is considered a waste of time!
GM’s stated
to the media that according to NHTSA, wearing a seat belt is the single most
effective way to reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes. The Click It or
Ticket enforcement mobilisation aims to continue to help raise the national
seat belt use rate beyond the estimated 87pc in 2013.
In support of
the Click it or Ticket campaign, GM is announcing plans to launch a new Belt
Assurance System on select fleet vehicles later this year. This belt assurance
system was developed by GM to help ensure the driver and right front passenger
are belted prior to the vehicle being driven. This system does not allow
shifting from “park” until the driver and right front seat belts are buckled.
Jeff Boyer,
Vice President, GM global vehicle safety commented, “Customer safety is on the
forefront of everything we do. It is essential for the safety of our customers’
and all drivers’ safety to develop the habit of buckling up each and every time
they get into their vehicles, we continue to support this program by NHTSA to
remind our drivers to buckle up each time they start their vehicles while also
developing other safety features like our Belt Assurance System.”
According to
NHTSA,seat belts saved an estimated 12,174 people from dying in 2012. From 2008
– 2012 seat belts saved nearly 63,000 lives.
Source: GM / Inputs Motown India