On Friday, March 5 the RCS District Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapter hosted an event to highlight the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt and to demonstrate preventative safety measures for today’s young drivers. SADD chapter members, in coordination with members of the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, were stationed at both high school entrances to do seat belt checks, especially back seat inspections with the advent of the new law being passed in November 2020. SADD members and deputies handed out a reward to passengers based on their compliance with the seat belt law. View WTEN’s coverage of the event here.
“In today's world, everyone wears their seat belts, for the most part, because of the fact that it is the one thing that can truly save your life in a car accident,” said RCS SADD chapter Co-President Caitlyn DeLuca. “Standing outside checking for seat belts really makes you sit back and realize how important they are when there's this one thing keeping some of your favorite people alive, if there was ever an accident.”
During Friday’s event, SADD students created homemade signage and offered small cards of encouragement for those staff and students wearing their seat belts.
Those students and staff who were wearing seat belts received a roll of Smarties and those who were not received a Dum-Dum. On Monday, March 1 SADD members stood at both entrances to the MS/HS complex and tracked seatbelt compliance, while also handing out the rewards. On Monday, only six car occupants did not have their seat belts on out of 200 people checked. This is a great number that shows the positive outcome of years of advertising and campaigning on this issue. It also an indication that people are heeding the warning beeps of their cars when they don’t buckle up. In addition, the RCS SADD campaign highlighted the recent New York State traffic and safety legislation that requires a backseat passenger to wear their seat belt.
During the March 5 event, there were ZERO reports of high school students not wearing their seat belts. A huge recognition that continues to show that progress is being made through this campaign. RCS SADD would like to thank Albany County Sheriff School Resource Officers Deputy Patti and Deputy Quay for their support at the checkpoints and for providing safety vests for the students. Special thanks also goes to thank the students involved for their efforts, especially on this bitter cold Friday morning in early March, for being outside for such an event. Those students are Bailey Grogan, Caitlyn DeLuca, Ashley Cross, Grace Engel, Bailey Polverelli, Makayla Morris and Tyler Demarco.
RCS SADD looks forward to more positive events in the future, especially as COVID-19 restrictions lighten, in order to help HS students make positive and life affirming decisions.
