Jonesborough, Tenn. – The Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office will join members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol and law enforcement agencies in East Tennessee to announce increased seat belt enforcement and the launch of the Seatbelts Are For Everyone (SAFE) campaign for the region. The event will take place Thursday, March 19th at 1:00 p.m. at the Jonesborough Department of Safety.
Carter, Cocke, Greene, Johnson, and Washington counties have all seen an increase in year-to-date traffic fatalities. Preliminary data shows that at least seven of those killed were not restrained at the time of the crash. While Tennessee has reached its highest seat belt usage rate in history at 87.71%, in 2014 approximately half of those killed in traffic crashes were not wearing seat belts.
The SAFE campaign is designed to increase seat belt and child passenger safety restraint usage in Tennessee. Law enforcement agencies are encouraged to participate in the campaign by planning and implementing occupant protection initiatives in their communities now through July. This is the second year that the Governor’s Highway Safety Office has held this campaign, and 189 law enforcement agencies have pledged to participate across the state.