Wear your seat belts: QuadPara
SANDTON - The QuadPara Association of South Africa will launch the Buckle Up road campaign on national roads on 29 March.
The message to the motorists is strong and clear : wear your seat belts while driving.
The association believes wearing seat belts can prevent a spinal cord injury in the event of a road crash. Quadriplegics and paraplegics will be deployed at garages on national roads encouraging motorists to buckle up and wear their seat belt.
Motorists will be approached at the garages and asked to sign a pledge to buckle up and in return, they will receive a free license disk sticker.
Quadriplegic and paraplegic people involved with this road safety campaign will be branded with bibs which identify them as campaigners and 40 members of the association have been employed for this project.
According to the association more than 900 people in South Africa have spinal cord injuries per annum and half of these are from road crashes.
The CEO of QuadPara Association of South Africa, Ari Seirlis said, “We are proud to deliver a road safety programme to the public. Not only will we reduce the number of persons sustaining spinal injuries in crashes, but we employ our own members in implementing the project.”
He said the association wants to decrease the number of people who have spinal cord injuries by promoting road safety measures.
“Some of the very victims of road accidents, will be at the garage sites, encouraging road safety to the public,” said Seirlis. The Road Accident Fund supports the campaign and hopes to reduce injury from road crashes. The association believes this exercise is a demonstration of their commitment to reduce the number of spinal cord injuries in South Africa.They will also encourage road users not to use their mobile phones whilst driving.
