Safe Communities (Safe Kids)
Team Chair: Steve Davidson
Lead Agency: Wayne County Family Connection
Coordinator: Lisa Brewer, 912-810-0101
Unintentional injury prevention to include pedestrian safety, water safety, fire and burn prevention, Buckle Up (car seat and safety seat), bicycle-skateboard-roller blade- ATV and golf cart helmut safety programs. If injury prevention is important to you please call our office for volunteer opportunities!
Seat Belt Program @ Wayne County High School
Under Safe Communites Strategy Team
The Problem:
1. Rural Roads have more than twice the fatality rate of urban roads
-Crashes are more likely to be at higher speeds than urban crashes
-Victims of fatal crashes in rural areas are more likely to be unbelted than in urban crashes
-Longer EMS response times
-Outdated roadway design and roadside hazards- such as no shoulders
2. Lowest Ranking Seat Belt Users (Rural Areas)
-Teens and young males age 16 to 24
-Rural populations/ pickup truck occupants
Theory Driven Program:
1. Theory of Reasoned Action
2. Social Cognitive Theory (Social Learning Theory)
3. Fuzzy-trace Theory
Purpose of Drive Alive:
To increase seat belt use amongst teenagers resulting in decreases in deaths and injuries
4 Basics to Drive Alive:
1. High Visibility Surveys (Key Component):
- At first, the survey results help define the seat belt use problem and help mobilize support
for the program in the community
- As seat belt use percentages grow with the interventions, teens begin to see that most other
teens do buckle up
- The high visibility surveys are the heart of the program
2. Incentives
- Teens who are buckled up should be randomly picked and provided gas cards or gift certificates
- This should be well publicized and done throughout the duration of the program
3. Disincentives
- Enforcement of some type during programmatic interventions
4. Programmatic Interventions
- Education interventions implanted to increase seat belt usage and designed to fit the community
