CVSA Accepting Nominations for 'Saved by the Belt' Awards
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has launched its "Saved by the Belt" Awards Program to recognize commercial motor vehicle drivers who have buckled up and whose lives were saved or injuries significantly reduced as a result of wearing a safety belt. The message is simple--wearing safety belts saves lives, CVSA says.
"CVSA created this new program to emphasize safety belt use by commercial motor vehicle drivers and to use these drivers as role models for safety belt use for their peers and their families," said CVSA Award Committee Chairman Jim McFarlin, who is also the director of safety and security for ABF Freight System Inc. "It benefits everyone traveling our highways when we increase public awareness on the benefits of safety belt use and having more people buckling up."
CVSA, an international not-for-profit organization comprised of officials and industry representatives from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, reports that in 2006, 703 drivers of large trucks died in truck crashes, and 314 of those drivers were not wearing safety belts. In addition, of the 188 large truck drivers killed who were ejected from their vehicles, almost 80 percent were not wearing safety belts.
If you are interested in nominating a person for the Saved by the Belt award, you can submit a completed nomination form and a brief narrative of the crash, along with the accident or incident report and other supporting documents and indicate why the nominee should be considered for the award. For more information on the program, visit CVSA's Web site, www.cvsa.org. The Saved by the Belt Award Program is sponsored in part by YRC Worldwide Inc. CVSA supports and is an active participant in the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt Partnership, which was established by former DOT Secretary Norman Y. Mineta to combat low safety belt use among the nation's commercial vehicle drivers.