We all know seat belts save lives, but teenagers today still do not wear their seat belts, and they are dying as a result. Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that of the almost 6,000 young occupants who died in motor vehicle crashes in 1999, more than 66% (over 4,000) were not wearing seat belts. The percentage of young people who were unbelted in alcohol-related crashes is even higher.
SADD chapters need to make their peers' seat belt use a high priority. We need to do all we can to increase seat belt use by young people. The following is a list of activities that SADD chapters in other schools have conducted.
- Start by being a role model. Always buckle up and make sure everyone you ride with or who rides with you buckles up.
- Conduct seat belt checks. One day without warning hold a seat belt check at the entrances to your school. Stop all cars entering the school grounds to check for seat belt use. Give a candy bar to those who were wearing their seat belt and give a note to those who were not that says, "Please buckle up." Keep count of the number of people who wore their seat belts and the number who did not. Conduct seat belt checks again in the following months to see if more people are buckling up. Try a seat belt check when students are leaving school, too. Your goal is 100% participation!
- Put license plate numbers of all drivers who are buckled up coming into school in a hat for a drawing to win prizes such as a pizza party or ice cream sundae party.
- In between seat belt checks put up posters, hand out literature, and read PSAs over the public address system to remind everyone to buckle up.
- Challenge other high schools in your area to see who can reach 100% or the highest participation. Ask a local pizza or ice cream shop to provide an award to the SADD chapter whose school attains the highest percentage.
- Erect a chart in the lobby of your school or out on the front lawn tracking the numbers as they increase. Design the chart in the shape of a seat belt. Indicate the number of seat belt users from the first seat belt check and continue to paint in the progress as you go.
- Consider a "Living Seat Belt Around City Hall" to draw attention to the importance of wearing safety belts. On a designated day, have people join hands to encircle City Hall. In front of the building link the circle by "fastening" a large cardboard safety belt buckle. Be sure to invite elected officials and the media participate in this event.
- Obtain permission from your administration to paint buckle up messages at the entrances and exits of your schools.
- The Quick Click Buckle Challenge, which emphasizes the ease of putting on and taking off seat beats, is a fun way to get people to wear their seat belts. Winning teams can even compete with teams from other schools or challenge teachers to a "belt-off." Providing awards to the winners adds more fun to the competition.
For a more extensive list of seat belt activities, fax your request to the SADD National Office at 508-481-5759.
Download printable pdf version
Back to Campaigns & Activities List
