The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has launched its "Saved by the Belt" Award 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 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 Jim McFarlin, ABF Freight System's director of safety and security and chairman of CVSA's Saved by the Belt Award Committee. "It benefits everyone traveling our highways when we increase public awareness on the benefits of safety belt use and having more people buckling up."
In 2006, 703 drivers of large trucks died in truck crashes and 314 of those drivers were not wearing safety belts.
Of the 188 large truck drivers killed who were ejected from their vehicles, almost 80 percent were not wearing safety belts.
Anyone interested in nominating a person must 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 www.cvsa.org.