May 12, 2009 – Today, Hammarskjold SMARTRISK and OSAID (Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving) students challenged fellow students, teachers, and community groups to beat last year’s winning time of 84.13 seconds in the second annual Quick Click Buckle-Up Challenge.

Wearing a seatbelt is the single most effective thing we can do to protect ourselves and other passengers in a motor vehicle collision. Ontario currently has a seatbelt compliance rate of 92.1%, which is slightly above the national average of 90.5%. In an effort to save even more lives, Ontario now aims for a compliance rate of 95%. For every 1% increase in seatbelt use in the province, five lives are saved per year.

“Compared with other age groups, teens have the lowest rate of seat belt use,” says Marita Campbell, Public Health Nurse at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. “One of the reasons given for not buckling up is that it takes too much time. Today, the Hammarskjold students proved, once again, that it takes only seconds.”

Since 1976, when seatbelt legislation was first introduced in Ontario, an estimated 8,000 lives have been saved.  More than 300,000 people have walked away from collisions where they would have suffered injuries if they had not been buckled. 

The Quick Click Buckle-Up Challenge is a community-based event presented by the students of Hammarskjold High School and the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. Support from the Community Traffic Awareness Committee, Half-Way Motors Limited and Subway Sandwiches & Salads helped to make this event a great success.           

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