Many of you here tonight worked hard to accomplish these results and you should be proud. But, as you know, your work is not done. We need to get that other one-third of the population to buckle up. If we are to believe a Prevention Magazine study of driver habits, more people drink a beverage while driving than buckle a seatbelt. About the same number eat while driving, and almost as many people change a CD or a tape in a moving car as buckle up.
Society still has some work to do on establishing priorities.
I am extremely impressed with the innovative program that Governor Hunt and Insurance Commissioner Long implemented two years ago in North Carolina. They rightly recognized that a long-standing commitment to highway safety can pay large benefits in lives and dollars saved. I am also impressed with the involvement and commitment of so many different organizations in North Carolina to this program. The Governor's team of highway safety, law enforcement, researchers and the insurance community is clearly the key to the program's success. Experience has shown that strong legislative initiatives and highly visible law enforcement and public information campaigns are the most effective methods to increase seatbelt use.