DOT, National Council of Negro Women Convene Forum on Safety Belt Use Within the African American Community |
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
June 23, 2003
NHTSA 23-03
Wednesday, June 4, 2003
Contact: Tim Hurd
Telephone: (202) 366-9550
U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and Dr. Dorothy I. Height, Chair of the National Council of Negro Women, convened today in Washington a major forum on African American safety belt use. The event, known as The Leadership Forum on Increasing Safety Belt Use in the African American Community, recognized increases in seat belt use among African Americans and sought to bring about continual increases.
"Gains in safety belt use among African Americans mean many fewer of our fellow citizens will die or be seriously injured on the roadways of America," Secretary Mineta said. "Years of diligence by our partners in the African American community are paying off."
Dr. Height commented, "Without safety belt law enforcement, there will be no saving of lives."
NHTSA noted safety belt use among African Americans registered an increase between 2000 and 2002, to essentially the same level as that of the general population. The latest NHTSA survey indicates that African Americans currently use safety belts 77 percent of the time, an 8-percentage-point increase since 2000 and the highest level reported since the agency began conducting such surveys nine years ago. The comparable figure for the overall U.S. population is now 75 percent.
In conjunction with the efforts made by DOT, the Meharry Medical College, General Motors Corporation and the Blue Ribbon Panel to Increase Seat Belt Use Among African Americans aided in the noted increases in safety belt use by African Americans, according to NHTSA.
Participants in today's forum acknowledged gains made since the Panel's findings were published in 2000. In addition, the forum consolidated support among African American organizations for primary safety belt laws, public education, and law enforcement initiatives. It focused on plans to achieve further improvements in belt use in the future.
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