Unbuckled territory

Brooke Huber's cousin died before she was born. Thrown from her Jeep Wrangler, the cousin died on impact.

A few weeks ago, a co-worker's boyfriend was killed in a car accident. He wasn't wearing a seat belt, either.

Now Huber is on a crusade. She doesn't want another friend or relative to die an unnecessary death.

Huber is one of about 20 Central students who are working to convince their peers to buckle up. They call themselves Team Spirit and are not to be confused with cheerleaders or a pep club. They're teamed up with Mother's Against Drunk Driving, but don't limit themselves to that topic.

Lately, Team Spirit's cause has been the high number of local high school drivers and passengers who don't wear a seat belt.

Brenda Bowman with Southeast Missouri Hospital injury prevention said last year three area schools participated in the Battle of the Belt program aimed at getting more teens buckled up.

The study showed 51 percent of Central's students buckled up.

A recent Team Spirit seat-belt check found that 70 percent of the students buckled up at a Central checkpoint.

On a Monday in September, the Southeast Missourian noted that only 13 out of 30 students buckled their seat belts.

These statistics are contrary to a recent U.S. Transportation Department report that said overall seat-belt use is at a record 82 percent this year, an increase of 2 percentage points from last year.

Bowman said the most common excuse for not wearing a seat belt is, "I'm just going up the road."

In Southeast Missouri, 223 people died and 949 suffered disabling injuries in Southeast Missouri vehicle accidents when seat belts were not being used. Of those, some said they were just going up the road, a study by the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety between 2001 and 2003 found.

"I've never seen them unbuckle a dead person," Bowman said.

When Huber's peers give popular excuses about seat belts taking too much time, that no one else does it or that it's not cool, she says she asks them if they know anyone who has died because they didn't wear their seat belt. Typically they answer no, and she says tells them she has and it is personal to her.

Statistics show that for every one person killed in a car accident, 52 other lives are affected due to family and friend relationships, Central senior Lauren Loftis said.

Loftis, an active member of Team Spirit, says she uses her friendship to encourage her friends to buckle up by telling them "You are really important to me" and "It could save your life."

The reasoning for not buckling up depends on who is asked.

"Carelessness," Central freshman Heath Daniel said.

"Habit," Huber said.

"Ignorance, they never get in the habit of wearing it," Loftis said.

Daniel said he thinks the problem is not that there are fewer teens buckling up than in the past, but there are more distractions now.

"There are so many things that can happen and there are so many scenarios," he said.

Team Spirit held a Quick Click Challenge at the end of September. The students have to get in the car, buckle up and then unbuckle and get out of the car and move to the next seat. The winner was determined by the fastest time, and the event reiterated that buckling up only adds a few seconds.

Those few seconds might have saved Scott City senior Jessica Arnzen, who died in a car accident in the fall of 1999. Despite her death, some Scott City high school students still don't think wearing a seat belt is important.

"We had a big tragedy in our community, and I think they forget and they forget who all it affects," multimedia teacher Donna Lutes said.

Every student in Lutes' class remembers Jessica and junior Jonnie Blankenship said keeping that memory alive is the reason she feels strongly about making a public service announcement about wearing seat belts.

The class is making safety belt PSAs to enter in a PSA contest the Missouri Department of Transportation is sponsoring.

Senior Lance "Louie" Vincent said his friends don't buckle up because it gets them on the road faster.

Blankenship said some of her friends think wearing a seat belt uncomfortable.

"They're thinking too much about themselves and not about the people around them and the people it could affect," Vincent said.

Vincent says he often hears from adults that they have been driving for years and they don't need to wear their seat belts.

The deadline for the commercials is Oct. 31 and then the class will share its commercials with Scott City Middle School.

The next few months will also be busy for those students involved in Team Spirit. They are planning to talk with junior high and middle school students in Cape Girardeau in an effort to convince them to buckle up before they start driving.

"I know that they don't take seat belts seriously at all," Huber said. She said she wants to let them know that it is something serious that can kill them.

A sock puppet show on the importance of buckling up is planned to be shown at the local elementary schools in December or early January.

The hope is that the younger students will go home and tell their parents about the program and ask those parents "why aren't you buckling up and why don't you buckle me up?" Loftis said.

Loftis says she insists her 8-year-old brother buckle up before she starts her truck.

The final project for Team Spirit will be in the spring the week before prom when they will be showing the a an anti-drinking-and-driving video.

Team Spirit is selling candy and Christmas wrapping paper this week to help raise money for its upcoming projects. Previously the group had been funding its projects with club dues.

The members of Team Spirit are looking to start working with other local schools to combine resources and begin a joint effort.

ameyer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127