MoDOT and the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety are challenging
Missouri businesses and private individuals to buckle up and put their
phones down.The Buckle Up - Phone Down campaign is tackling the two most impactful actions a driver can take to prevent crashes -- or survive if one occurs.
First, drivers can put their phones down when they slide behind the wheel. Distracted driving is the number-one cause of crashes, not only in Missouri, but in the entire United States. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports that cell phones were involved in 2,237 crashes in 2015 alone.
Next, people can buckle up each and every time they get in a vehicle. Of the 938 people killed on Missouri's roadways last year, 684 were drivers and passengers of vehicles subject to Missouri's current safety belt law. A tragic 62 percent of them were unrestrained.
The hope is to get private industry to openly support employee safety, either through internal safety campaigns or actually changing policy banning cellphone use in company vehicles and making safety belts mandatory.
