In 1992, there was a compelling TV ad that implored people with great success to buckle-up. The message has lost its impact over the years.
Last year, almost one third of road fatalities were people not wearing a seatbelt.
The ad, dubbed ‘bend your knees, Katie’, depicts an horrific accident and emotional aftermath as a young woman learns to walk again following a crash.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of seatbelts becoming mandatory in Victoria – the first jurisdiction in the world to do so – and road safety authorities are deeply concerned that drivers and passengers are choosing not to use this life-saving safety feature.
The TAC’s latest Road Safety Monitor survey into driver behaviour indicates that potentially 170,000 Victorian drivers do not always wear a seatbelt when they get in the car. While this indicates that 97% of drivers are doing the right thing – it’s nearly 200,000 unsafe drivers on Victorian roads.
Given that many of the State’s road fatalities occur on country roads, the message is clear to all drivers in the region, buckle-up and live.
