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REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE NORMAN Y. MINETA
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
AIR BAG AND SEAT BELT SAFETY CAMPAIGN RECEPTION
WASHINGTON, D.C.
OCTOBER 8, 2003
5:30 PM
Good evening.
Thank you very much Executive Director Chuck Hurley. I am delighted to join
you, and the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign, for this evening’s
celebration.
On behalf of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, I thank you, and all of
our partners here tonight, for the incredible work that you are doing to carry
the Administration’s vital safety message to the American people.
This summer, I called my team together – Administrator Mary Peters and the
Federal Highway Administration, Administrator Annette Sandberg and the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Dr. Jeff Runge and the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration – for the first ever surface transportation “All
Hands” meeting.
I challenged them to be safety advocates – to summon the same energy, the
same commitment, and the same passion that they used to improve transportation
security following the horrific attacks of September 11th – and to
raise the bar on safety and save lives.
We have some tremendous partners in this effort to save lives, partners like the
Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign. With your help and our united
Departmental safety effort, we are seeing phenomenal results.
Together, we have reached an historic milestone – 79 percent safety belt use
nationwide. This is a tremendous accomplishment. We moved the needle up four
percentage points – from 75 to 79 percent – in one year.
This 79 percent nationwide safety belt use means that thousands more of our sons
and daughters will reach their destinations safely.
It means that hundreds of families will be spared the heart-wrenching news that
their loved ones were killed in car crashes.
Because we reached 79 percent, an additional 1,000 lives will be saved each year
as more Americans are buckling up.
Two of our most effective tools in this safety campaign are Primary Seat Belt
Laws and Click It or Ticket mobilizations.
I thank Chuck and the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign for their solid work
with us to launch the largest mobilization ever last May. This high-visibility
enforcement effort was critical to raising safety belt use and saving lives.
And the news is especially heartening for our littlest travelers. Fatalities
among children continue to decline and, for the first time last year, went below
500 deaths for infants to seven-year-olds.
But we cannot rest on our laurels. There is much more to be done.
Safety remains a top priority for President Bush and this Administration. And
we need the help of everyone in this room to keep increasing the use of safety
belts, and to encourage more states to adopt primary laws.
I know that I can count on you. You are committed champions of highway safety,
and you can be proud of your life-saving work.
God bless each of you. Buckle up and travel safely. And may God continue to
bless the United States of America.
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