NORTH ROBINSON, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW) —With the school year ready to get underway next week, local law enforcement agencies are looking to remind kids to drive safely.
As part of that initiative, one football player from each of the county schools came out to Colonel Crawford to pose for a poster with each of the local police department, sheriff, and state highway patrol cruisers.
The main takeaway kids got from this event was to always wear your seatbelt.
Luke Hocker, a senior at Colonel Crawford, shared his story of an accident that he was in recently where the results could have been much different had he not been buckled in.
“I was turning left onto 598 out of the intersection and going over the railroad crossing, I came down the hill and there was a car stopped. I didn’t have much time to react, so I slammed on the brakes as hard as I could and I rear-ended him. Airbags went off, car was totaled, and thankfully I had my seatbelt on,” Hocker said. “I still got burns, I got cut up, my leg was cut up, and my arm was cut. The ambulance took me to Avita Hospital, which was thankfully right beside it, and the doctor told me that if I hadn’t have had my seatbelt on, it probably would not have been the same outcome that it was, it could have been a lot worse.”
State Highway Patrol Officer, Lieutenet Ty Skaggs, who is the Bucyrus Post Commander, gave the players the analogy that seatbelts are like safety straps on football helmets–they keep everything held in place like it is supposed to be.
“When you guys are out there playing football, you guys go out there and put your helmets on. After you put your helmets on, what do you do? Chin strap, right? And it helps keep it on your head, help protect your head. Safety belts are kind of the same concept. Put that safety belt on to help hold you in place and protect you so you don’t get tossed around inside the vehicle in a crash, or partially thrown out or completely thrown out,” Lt. Skaggs said. “So we want to buckle up all the time before the game, during the game with the chin straps, and after the game.”
Lt. Skaggs told the players of an experience he had twelve years ago when he was called to the scene of an accident where the driver, who he knew personally, was partially ejected and died, whereas if he had been buckled up, he would have survived because the inside of the vehicle sustained little damage.
Posters of the group photo taken will be made and handed out to each of the county schools to hang up. Each poster will also say, “Buckle up before, during, and after the game” with a helmet and chinstrap.
