Time to buckle up

This holidays season, motorists will see quadriplegics and paraplegics deployed at garages on national roads, encouraging motorists to “buckle up” (wear their seat belt) in order to reduce the number of spinal cord injuries from road accidents on South African roads.

QASA will launch this initiative on July 13 and 14 in order to greet road users on their return from holiday travels with a strong message to use their seat belts.

Motorists will be approached at the garages by quadriplegics and paraplegics, and asked to sign a pledge to “buckle up” and, in return, they will receive a free license disk sticker.

Those involved with this road safety campaign will be branded with bibs which identify them as campaigners, and will introduce themselves in order to encourage motorists to wear their seat belts on their journey.

Twenty members of QASA have been employed for this project, and the association is proud to be part of this road safety initiative, as part of their commitment to “prevention of spinal cord injury”.

According to the CEO of QASA, Ari Seirlis, the association is adamant that if you are wearing your seatbelt and in an accident, your chances of sustaining a spinal cord injury are drastically reduced.

“More than 900 people become spinal cord injured in South Africa per annum, and half of these from road accidents; the impact on their lives and the lives of their families are devastating, and the cost immeasurable,” says Seirlis.

“We are proud to deliver a road safety programme to the public, and not only will we reduce the number of persons sustaining spinal injuries in accidents, but we employ our own members in implementing the project.

“Some of the very victims of road accidents will be at the garage sites, encouraging road safety to the public.

“So often, charities are seen with their hands out for hand-outs, but with this project, we extend a hand-out to the South African public, giving something back in the form of an awareness campaign that will save millions in rehabilitation costs and reducing the number of persons becoming disabled. We owe our road users this campaign.

“QASA is also very proud to have some investment from the Road Accident Fund in this campaign, in a new partnership towards the reduction of catastrophic injury from road crashes.

“QASA is making a big investment in prevention, and this exercise is a demonstration of our commitment to reducing the number of spinal cord injuries in South Africa.

“Distracted driving will soon be on our agenda where we will encourage road users not to use their mobile phones while driving, whether it be talking or texting.”