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Atrium Medical Center’s Warren County Safe Communities Coalition promotes national seatbelt campaign

WARREN COUNTY (May 23, 2016) – Atrium Medical Center’s Warren County Safe Communities Coalition (WCSCC) announces the kickoff of the 2016 “Click it or Ticket” campaign.  This campaign and mobilization is a nationwide effort, coordinated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with a primary goal of increasing seatbelt use and raising awareness of the dangers of not wearing a restraint. Members of the WCSCC including law enforcement and traffic safety partners are working together to promote the Click it or Ticket campaign and crack down on motorists who are not buckling up.

“It is our responsibility as a coalition to promote seatbelt use and reduce the amount of preventable injuries and deaths in Warren County,” said Mandy Wells, program coordinator for Warren County Safe Communities, and trauma outreach coordinator for Atrium Medical Center. “It’s a three second or less step when getting behind the wheel that could help save a life in a car accident.”

Seatbelt use reduces the risk for serious injury and death during a crash by approximately 50 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, federal estimates are that in Ohio, the number of drivers and front seat passengers buckling up is about 82 percent, less than the 86 percent of drivers across the nation as a whole.

“Wear your seatbelt, not only for yourself but for those in the car around you,” said Dr. Alan Summe, an emergency department physician at Atrium Medical Center.

“When you make impact with something, generally the automobile stops and that energy is transferred to the occupants,” Summe said. “You’ve got tissues in your body that are not as strong as the car.”

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in those ages 1 to 54, also according to the CDC. Vehicle crashes are also the second highest cause of traumatic injury treated at Atrium Medical Center, a Level III Trauma Center. Not only is this further evidence of the importance of proper restraint use, but also of the imperative need for continued seatbelt awareness through campaign efforts such as Click it or Ticket. 

Need Reasons To Buckle Up?

1. Wearing a seatbelt could save your life 
2. It’s the law.
3. Protect yourself from impaired drivers

The “Click it or Ticket” campaign with stepped-up law enforcement on interstates and other roadways runs May 23 to June 5.

“We do not give warnings,” said Trooper Rob Waulk of the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Lebanon post. Stopped motorists found not to be wearing a seatbelt will be ticketed, Waulk said. “For the next month there will be what we call a blitz in seatbelt use.”

Additionally, the Click It or Ticket campaign promoting the importance of drivers and passengers buckling up coincides with the unofficial start of summer during Memorial Day weekend. The number of drivers traveling by road and taking advantage of historically lower gas prices is projected to make the 2016 summer driving season a record one for gasoline demand, according to auto club AAA.

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*The current wait time is an estimated wait time before a person sees a physician and is not a guarantee. It is based on patient activity (how many patients are being treated and the severity of their injuries) within the last hour, and it is subject to change at any moment. If you are experiencing an emergency, call 911.