Ourense, March 7, 2023.- “The safety belt is a life insurance”, this is one of the main messages with which this morning has started the campaign of surveillance and control of the safety belt and child restraint systems that from today and until March 12 launches the DGT.
The subdelegate of the Government has been present in the control of this campaign in the province of Ourense that has been carried out this morning in PK 4 of the OU-536 as it passed through Castadón where it has been accompanied by the provincial deputy head of Traffic of the province, Andrea Conde and by the accidental deputy head of the Traffic subsector of the Civil Guard in Ourense, Javier Barja. Emilio González defended the message that “the use of seatbelts halves the risk of death in the event of an accident.”
“Awareness, deterrence and prevention are the pillars of all the campaigns launched by the Government in the field of road safety with a single objective: to reduce to zero the deaths in traffic accidents,” said the deputy delegate. In addition, it has valued the involvement and coordination of different security forces since the campaign has also been joined by the Local Police of Ourense, Maceda and O Barco de Valdeorras. Likewise, he has congratulated the provincial head of Traffic for having implemented this campaign with a useful and creative initiative.
During his speech, Emilio González recalled that not wearing a seatbelt is, along with speed and driving under the influence of alcohol, one of the main risk factors on the road.
In fact, in the urban area, the chance of being seriously injured or killed is 5 times lower if you wear your belt.
In the year 2022 in the province of Ourense a total of 15 people died. Of these, 5 were not wearing a seatbelt (31% of those who died in tourism and a van were not wearing a seatbelt).
The Deputy Delegate emphasized the objectives of the campaign on increasing the use of seatbelts in the rear seats of vehicles. Not using the seat belt on the rear seats means that in the event of a frontal impact, the likelihood of a rear-seat occupant fatally hitting another passenger in the front seats can be up to 8 times greater.
The campaign that takes place between March 6 and 12 wants to inculcate in the population the enormous effectiveness of the retention systems in both adults and minors. The General Directorate of Traffic warns that, at 80 kilometers per hour, a frontal crash without wearing the safety belt usually brings with it the result of death or serious injuries. In rollovers, the belt reaches its maximum effectiveness reducing the risk of death by up to 77%.