MADISON COUNTY —
In a scene from the popular 1960s-based TV show “Mad Men,” Betty Draper is driving her ’57 Ford Country Sedan with her children, Sally and Bobby, playing in the back seat.
Bobby giggles and climbs into the front seat as Mrs. Draper takes her eyes off the road to watch a neighbor unpacking. Bobby climbs into the back seat again.
Mrs. Draper loses feeling in her hands and her car runs into a concrete birdbath. The children were tossed onto the floorboards, but were still giggling, unharmed.
Thankfully, society is far removed from the safety standards of the 1950s and '60s, but the percentage of children observed at 11 local elementary schools, buckled correctly in the mornings, was just over half, 57.43 percent. The number improves to 68.57 percent as children leave in the afternoon.
As a rule, children must sit in the backseat if they are not a teenager, said Lloyd Jordison, coordinator of the Madison County Safety Coalition and a nurse with the health department.
All buckled passengers also must have the shoulder strap across their chest, instead of under their arm or behind their back, he said.
Last fall, Berea College nursing students stood at the entrance of local schools in the morning as students arrived and in the afternoon as they departed.
They were checking to see if the elementary-aged children were sitting in the back seat and whether they were buckled correctly. If the observers could not make a clear inspection, they did not record the data.
A total of 1,273 front/back seat observations and 1,230 seat belt observations were made.
One significant difference appeared in the results: More students were buckled correctly in the back seat as they were leaving school than when they arrived.
“One of the strategies used at schools is for teachers to stand outside and open the back door of the vehicle so students are encouraged to sit in the back seat,” Jordison said. “It does help when teachers open that back door.”
About 74 percent of students were sitting in the back seat in the afternoons compared to 64 percent in the morning.
This is an improvement, Jordison said. When the study began ten years ago, only about 50 percent of children were buckled correctly and were in the back seat.
“The reason we started this (study), we noticed when we were doing our car seat checks (at the health department), parents with good intentions were putting booster seats in the front,” he said. “We knew there was an education opportunity here.”
The safety coalition began sending flyers home to parents through the schools’ Family Resource & Youth Services Centers and placed between 30 and 40 yellow signs all around the county that read: “Always buckle children in the back seat.”
Some surrounding counties have followed their lead, Jordison said.
Overall seat belt usage in Madison County is now more than 80 percent, he said. And seat belt rates have improved with “Click it or Ticket” primary seat belt laws (officers can ticket a driver or passenger for not wearing a seat belt, without any other traffic offense taking place).
According to the National Safety Council, seat belt use averages 88 percent nationally (compared with 69 percent in 1998), but there are still groups less likely to wear seat belts: teens, commercial drivers, males in rural areas, pick-up truck drivers, people driving at night and people who have been drinking.
Seat belts saved more than 75,000 lives from 2004 to 2008 and 42 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2007 were unbelted, according to the National Safety Council.
That last 20 percent of unbelted drivers “might be a little harder to get,” Jordison said. “But that’s why we keep fighting the good fight.”
Crystal Wylie can be reached at cwylie@richmondregister.com
or 623-1669, Ext. 6696.
Local News
Related Photos
-
The Madison County Safety Coalition has placed between 30 and 40 of these signs all over the county,
After-school seat belt, back seat usage is up in Madison County
- Local News
-
-
State champs get their rings at YMCA breakfast
Two months may have passed, but Madison County continues to celebrate the state basketball championship won by the Madison Central boys team.
Team members were presented championship rings while their cheerleaders received pendants Saturday morning during a breakfast at the Telford YMCA attended by nearly 300. -
Sand artist, pastry chef wow audience at cake expo
Joe Castillo dazzled audiences while performing at Eastern Kentucky University’s Center for the Arts Saturday during the Grace with Taste Cake Expo.
Castillo, along with pastry chef Stella Parks, were the entertainment acts at the expo early in the afternoon. -
District urges students to ‘PowerMyLearning’ through the summer
Sixteen little penguins need help jumping from iceberg to iceberg as a hungry killer whale swims menacingly in the chilly water below.
The fate of the poor little penguins lies in the hands of a third-grade student, who must quickly find the answer to a math equation to lead the penguins to safety. -
Vietnam vets mark Armed Forces Day
In the 1960s and ‘70s, when many campuses around the country were the scene of anti-war riots and demonstrations, Eastern Kentucky University was naming buildings and streets for its alumni who had died fighting for their country.
-
GREAT bridges gap between cops, preteens
Bridging the gap between public misconceptions about police officers and the reality of what’s behind the uniform can be a daunting task. But, a growing program at Madison County middle schools is helping break down those barriers.
-
Exit 95 rebuild delayed until 2017
Originally scheduled for 2014, the reconstruction of Exit 95 on Interstate 75 won’t take place until 2017, Madison Judge/Executive Kent Clark told a joint meeting of the Richmond and Berea chambers of commerce Friday.
The state Transportation Cabinet is delaying the project, Clark said, until a decision is made on the proposed highway that would run from Exit 95 to Nicholasville. -
Toyota bornlearning Academy graduates parents
Seven graduates received their certificates Thursday night, but not with the customary rendition of “Pomp and Circumstance.”
It was a celebration of the parents’ six-month journey with the Toyota bornlearning Academy at Berea Community School.
The academy works with parents and caregivers of children from prenatal to 5 years old on ways to turn everyday moments into learning opportunities. -
Caudill Middle School student showcase
Members of the Caudil Middle School Jazz Band entertain the crowd during the school's end of year student showcase Thursday.
-
Man arrested Friday after early morning break-in
Richmond police made an arrest Friday in connection with an early morning break-in at Jack’s Cleaners on West Water Street.
Scott Hobbs, 42, of McKee, was charged with first-degree burglary, according to Richmond Police Chief Larry Brock
At 3:25 a.m., a witness reported seeing a man enter and exit the cleaners through a broken window and drive away, Brock stated in a news release. -
Grand jury indicts inmates in jail assault
Two inmates at the Madison County Detention Center were indicted Wednesday on charges related to the beating of another prisoner.
A Madison grand jury indicted 28-year-old Justin Morgan Howell and 26-year-old Lucas Wayne Shanks on charges of second-degree assault, second-degree escape and second-degree persistent felony offenders. - More Local News Headlines
-
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
