Did you know that wearing your seat belt can reduce your risk of death by 45% and serious injury by 50% in the event of a serious crash? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among those ages 1-54 in the U.S. At Henrico County, we care about you and don’t want you to become just another statistic.
You may have noticed some new signage recently put up around our Government complexes reminding you to buckle up! “We have had several incidents through the years of employees that have been involved in some serious accidents who have not been wearing seat-belts. We want our employees to be safe. We want to make another effort to remind people to wear their seat-belts,” said Jason Young, Division Manager of Risk Management.
There are now a total of 10 signs around different government locations within the County. “The idea behind the sign is to be more friendly and less regulatory,” said Young, “choosing a bright red seat belt, people will remember a picture or image before words, so the colored seat belt, we hope, really sticks with people.” Risk Management partnered with Traffic Engineering and the Department of Public Works on the overall look and design of the new signs.
There are mandatory seat belt laws in almost every state and in Virginia the law requires everyone under the age of 18 to be seat belted as well as any passengers in the front seat of vehicles, regardless of age. If not, you can be pulled over and are looking at the chance of being ticketed, fined or even seriously injured. Between seat belt safety checks at our depots, reminders in defensive driving classes and now signs around the County, the hope is that employees will take a moment and remember to buckle up and make it home safe to friends, family and loved ones.