MoDOT launches seat belt safety campaign

The Missouri Department of Transportation wants to get more mid-Missouri teenagers to buckle up this school year.

Department officials have launched the program, “It Only Takes One.”

It is designed to educate high school students on safe driving habits and safety belt use.

Sixty-four teenagers died last year in crashes on Missouri roadways.

MODoT said 75 percent of those deaths used no seat belts.

The department told ABC 17 News they work with the Missouri Safety Center to track whether or not students are wearing seat belts when they’re leaving school.

Last year, officials found 69 percent of teens buckled up, which was about a 1 percent improvement from the previous year.

The program will involve two surprise safety belt checks at each registered high school.

MoDOT State Youth Coordinator Kacey Buschjost said, “The goal is to have teens buckling up in Missouri. We’re finding out that they’re just not. There’s no doubt that one clicked seat belt can be the difference between life or death in Missouri.”

The statewide competition will run from Oct. 1 through the end of the school year.

Schools have until Sept. 30 to sign up to participate in the “It Only Takes One” competition by clicking here.