Media Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
| CONTACT: | Buel C. Young | MVA Media Relations (410) 762-5188 |
STATUE FINDS PERMANENT HOME
30-ft. Tall Crash Dummy Unveiled at MVA Headquarters
GLEN BURNIE, MD (November 20, 2012) – The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) unveiled a gigantic, 30 foot life-saving reminder that seat belts save lives, today. Purchased with federal funds for the July, 2012 Baltimore Artscape festival, the bigger than life-sized crash dummy has been placed permanently on the front lawn of the MVA’s headquarters in Glen Burnie to remind everyone to buckle up.
“If seat belts were used by everyone on Maryland’s roads, close to 100 lives could be saved in Maryland each year,” said MVA Administrator John Kuo. “Seat belts reduce the risk of death and critical injuries by as much as 50 percent.”
Unveiled two days before Thanksgiving, the giant crash dummy was dedicated in time for the holiday season, one of the busiest travel times of the year. November is considered the third deadliest month of the year for traffic crashes. There were 50 traffic-related fatalities throughout Maryland in November 2011, according to the Maryland Accident Analysis Reporting System. Throughout 2011, 284 passengers were killed in crashes and only 46 percent were wearing their seat belts.
Nationally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 61 percent of the 10,647 passengers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes overnight were not wearing their seat belts in 2010. The risk of dying, unbelted, during the evening hours is much higher than the 42 percent reported killed during the daytime hours.
Joining Administrator Kuo at the dedication was Michele Fields, General Counsel for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The giant crash dummy is part of Maryland’s Toward Zero Deaths campaign, an effort aimed at driving down highway deaths to zero. From 2007 to 2011, a lack of seat belt use, speeding, and driving while impaired contributed to more than 60 percent of all traffic fatalities in Maryland. Towards Zero Deaths highlights the need for drivers to buckle up, decrease speed on the roadways, and to always drive sober. For more information on Toward Zero Deaths please visit www.towardzerodeaths.com/.
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