National Seat Belt Day

is November 14th!

Our Vision

All North Carolinians getting where they are going safely.

While North Carolina has a dynamic community of issue-specific transportation safety advocates, what was missing was one organization with expertise in conducting high-impact public communications efforts, providing effective grassroots and grasstops citizen engagement, and serving to champion public policies that promote better behaviors to combat perils to safety across all forms and manner of transportation.

The North Carolina Alliance for Safe Transportation (NCAST) was created to be that organization, with one goal in mind: reduce the number of transportation-related crashes, injuries and fatalities in North Carolina.

A major focus of NCAST is promoting awareness of safety issues specific to younger motorists.

Teen drivers are especially at risk on the roads, with vehicle crashes the leading cause of death in America among those under 21.

The inexperience and impulsiveness of teen drivers is a significant reason for their high crash rates, making important the safety features of the vehicles they drive as well as getting plenty of supervised driving practice.

Our Mission

To drive behaviors that promote and encourage safe use of North Carolina’s transportation network.

SPOTLIGHT:
NATIONAL SEAT BELT DAY

U.S. seat belt use rates have steadily increased over time —from 58% in 1994 to 91% in 2019. Yet, modern trends like ride sharing often result in too many choosing not to buckle up. In 2020, of the 23,824 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2020, 10,893 (46%) were unrestrained at the time of the crash. A few fast facts…

Seat belts reduce fatalities by 45% among front-seat passengers and drivers.
Seat belts prevent serious injuries by 50%.
The three-point seat belt disperses the energy of the moving body to the chest, pelvis, and shoulders, reducing whiplash and abdominal injuries.
The force of an airbag can seriously hurt or even kill passengers who aren’t wearing seat belts, and airbags don’t prevent passengers or drivers from being ejected during crashes.
Research shows that children whose parents wear seat belts are more likely to buckle up. Parents and peers can impact and encourage teens to buckle up.