NORTH ROBINSON — A Colonel Crawford High School student has joined a different type of club — one that literally may have saved his life.
Sophomore Nicholas Teglovic on Wednesday became a member of the “Saved by the Belt” Club, an award presented by the Ohio Highway Patrol to recognize drivers who have benefitted from their decision to buckle up before getting behind the wheel.
“Nicholas is a living testimony to the effectiveness of safety belts,” said Lt. Scott Rike, the Bucyrus Post Commander, who made the presentation at the gymnasium entrance. “Everyone needs to buckle up, every trip, every time.”
Nicholas, the 16-year-old son of Ryan and Lori Teglovic of Shelby, was heading home from school Sept. 28 when he crashed his 1996 Plymouth Breeze into a ditch on County Road 49. The car went airborne and rolled over three times before landing in a field.
Nicholas admitted he was at fault, but still made the wise decision to wear his seat belt that day.
“The investigating troopers on the scene firmly believe that if Nicholas would have not been wearing his safety belt, he would have sustained serious injury or possibly been killed,” Rike said.
Instead, the young driver walked away with a few bumps and bruises.
“We told him after the accident that, yeah, you’re fortunate,” said his father Ryan, a guidance counselor and head football coach at the school. “He’s definitely well aware of that, and so are we.”
Rike, who gave Nicholas a “Saved by the Belt” license plate bracket, said that 419 people not wearing seat belts were killed in traffic accidents across the state last year. “Saved by the Belt” is a joint effort of the Ohio Department of Public Safety and other law enforcement agencies.
Rike also stressed the important role parents have in educating their children as well as enforcing Ohio’s seat belt law, especially with teenage drivers.
“It is obvious that Nicholas’ parents have taken this role seriously and taught him well,” Rike said. “This crash could have resulted in Nicholas getting killed. Instead of the Bucyrus Highway Patrol Post Commander giving an award, he would have had to make a death notification to his parents.”
The Teglovics, who have five other children, shudder at the thought. They realize their son’s injuries from the accident could have been far worse.
“We’re blessed he’s still alive,” Lori Teglovic said.