Seatbelts save lives, but they don't work very well if people don't use them. SGI's Seatbelt Challenge aims to improve seatbelt usage in rural and First Nations communities.
The Keeseekoose First Nation, Cote First Nation and Fishing Lake First Nation all participated in the 2011 Seatbelt Challenge, and Keeseekoose came out on top. As a result, the community wins up to $50,000 to put towards road safety improvements in the community. The Cote First Nation came in second place.
The challenge worked by two roadside surveys, one before the challenge kicked off and one afterwards. The community which saw the greatest increase in seatbelt use was the winner, with the goal being to get as close to 100 per cent usage as possible. Keeseekoose saw their seat belt use improve from 65 per cent pre-challenge to 93 per cent post-challenge.
The challenge focuses on First Nations and rural communities because those are the areas which see the greatest number of fatalities due to unbelted occupants. Fifty per cent of fatalities on rural roads and 62.5 per cent of fatalities on First Nations roads involve unbelted occupants. This is compared to 16.5 per cent on urban streets.
The communities of Grenfell, Kipling and Whitewood also participated in a challenge, and the results will be announced later in the week.
