Crime & Safety

VIDEO: Toward Zero Deaths Seat Belt Campaign Kick Off

The Southeast Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths coalition, which includes law enforcement from 11 counties, including Rice, will have extra seat belt enforcement patrol from May 21 to June 3.

A seat belt saved Dani Fiebelkorn's life.

The teen was driving on Interstate 35 last October when she fell asleep at the wheel, flipping the car through a ditch and coming to a rest upside down.

"I was very lucky that I didn't get any broken bones," she said on Monday at a press conference at Northfield Hospital encouraging seat belt use. "I just really hope everyone does wear their seat belts so they don't have to go through the same thing that I did."

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Fiebelkorn was presented with the "Saved by the Belt" award for wearing her belt during the wreck.

The award was part of an awareness event from southeastern law enforcement officials who are setting the course for their Toward Zero Deaths campaign.

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The Southeast Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths coalition, which includes law enforcement from 11 counties, including Rice, will have extra seat belt enforcement patrol from May 21 to June 3.

The Click It or Ticket campaign is an effort to educate motorists and encourage seat belt use.

Speakers at Monday's event included Dr. Jennifer Fischer, EMS medical director of ; Lt. Brian Buck, Minnesota State Patrol; Chief Deputy Chuck Walerius, ; and Sheriff Troy Dunn and Sgt. Mark Hlady, Rice County Sheriff's office.

2008-2010 Minnesota Crash Facts

  • Of the 932 vehicle occupants killed, only 424 (45 percent) were known to be belted
  • Of the 2,858 vehicle occupants seriously injured, only 1,568 (55 percent) were known to be belted.
  • During this period, 206 motorists were killed during nighttime hours (9 p.m. to 3 a.m.) and only 55 (27 percent) of these victims were known to be belted
  • Annually, nearly 75 percent of unbelted traffic occur on greater Minnesota roads
  • Minnesotans that are least likely to buckle up and more likely to die in crashes are young drivers, particularly males and residents in greater Minnesota. Each year, motorits aged 15-29 account for about 40 percent of all unbelted deaths and 50 percent of all unbelted serious injuries—yet this group represents only 24 percent of all licensed drivers.
  • Each year, 70 percent of drinking drivers killed in crashed are not buckled up
  • Nationwide, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for people aged 2 to 33 years old
  • Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers—16 to 19 year olds are more likely to die in a crash than the next two leading causes combined (homicide and suicide). Of the 88 vehicle occupant crash fatalities in that age group, only 33 (38 percent) were known to be belted.
  • An American Academy of Pediatrics study show a correlation between driver seat belt use and child restrain use. When a drive buckles up, child passengers are restrained nearly 90 percent of the time. When a driver does not buckle up, children are restrained only one-quarter of the time.

*Statistics provided by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety

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