We’re all familiar with ads encouraging us to wear our seatbelts in the car; but why is there a special statewide campaign encouraging specifically those who drive pick-up trucks to buckle up? Are pickup truck drivers really that much worse at this?
It turns out that they are, but it isn't just trucks. Whether its a truck or a van or an SUV, the bigger the vehicle, the less likely the driver is to wear a seat belt, and the statistics bear that out. Kate Stegall from Louisiana State Police Troop B told me on air today that 144 pickup truck drivers died on Louisiana roads in 2021 - and 95 of them, about 66%, were not wearing seat belts properly. In response, the "Buckle Up In Your Truck" campaign continues all week and it addresses the disproportionate number of drivers of trucks who refuse to buckle their seatbelts.
One person texted into the show today and said that his friend buckles the seatbelt - and then sits in front of it, with the seatbelt behind him. What’s that about? That suggests that this person is really concerned about the image they project by wearing the seatbelt properly. Does that make you a sheep? Does that make you a wimp? Are your friends going to think less of you because you buckled up?
Could it be that pickup truck drivers are statistically more likely to have this mentality that "the government can't tell me what to do," so "I refuse to buckle up," even though statistics show you are safer if your seatbelt is fastened. I wonder if the government told people NOT to buckle up that they’d get better results from this group. Would they then buckle up because the government told them not to?
