Dwyer

Shealyn Dwyer
Ms. Hamby
UWRT
8 December 2014
Driving With your Seatbelt Fastened
What is a commonly known safety tip that you are aware of when driving in a car? I am
talking about driving and wearing your seatbelt. Some may consider the seatbelt to be a
nuisance and hate wearing it, but it is for your safety and no matter how far you are driving you
should always wear it. I relate wearing a seatbelt while in a car to playing soccer properly
equipped. You are not allowed to participate in a soccer game without wearing shin guards and
also are not allowed to drive a car without wearing a seatbelt. The main function of the seatbelt
is to stop your movement going forward when your car stops abruptly or suddenly changes
directions. It causes you to remain stationary instead of allowing you to go through the
windshield (The Need for Seatbelts and Children Restrains, 6). Front seat passengers wearing
a seatbelt can reduce the chances of a fatal injury by 45 percent and moderate to critical injury by
50 percent (Travel and Motor Vehicle Safety).
From the first time a baby comes home in their car seat, up until they are driving their
own car, they are educated on the safety and responsibilities that go along with automobiles. No
matter how old a child is they must all know the rules regarding seatbelts. One of the focuses is
to educate young children on the importance of wearing their seatbelt, seeing it as a safety issue
as well as the law. Positive education will help them understand that seatbelts are imperative to
keep them safe during a collision and can even save their lives.

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Adults also need to be educated on the importance of wearing seatbelts. Many think that
since they are older and more experienced drivers, there is no reason for them to wear a seatbelt.
In my opinion, it is crucial for adults to obey this law. In 2009, more than 2.3 million adult
drivers and passengers were treated in emergency rooms as a result of vehicle crashes, said the
author from the article Travel and Motor Vehicle Safety. Adults need to realize that car
accidents can happen to them, and that they need to be prepared if they do occur. Not only are
they being role models for younger children but they are also protecting themselves from injury.
Elderly people must be extremely aware and remember to always wear their seatbelt.
When it comes to older adults, they are at a higher risk to get injured if in an accident. The age
of a person can determine how frail and fragile they are; this is why elderly must be extremely
careful especially while they are driving. Due to the fact that this group of people losses the
quality and preciseness of their senses, they are at more risk of being involved in accidents.
They are more likely to become seriously injured in even minor accidents because of their age.
Their reaction time decreases resulting in unnecessary incidents. For example, if a car in front
of them stops short, it takes them a longer amount of time to realize and react than it would for a
younger driver. Commonly this group of people has a harder time hearing sirens, horns, or bells,
which makes it more dangerous for everyones safety. Based off of the examples I have
mentioned, I feel that it is most important for elderly people to continuously wear their seatbelts.
In hopes to influence young children from ages 5 to 15 about seatbelts, I decided to create
an eye-catching billboard. Strategically placing the billboard along the roadway on a lower stand
would make it quite visible as children gaze out the vehicle window. I thought it would be a
great idea to place a billboard where kids could look at it and learn something new. I feel a
bright orange background and bold writing will grab the childrens immediate attention. The

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slogan would be Arrive Alive, and would be accompanied by a picture representing a person
wearing a seatbelt; the image of a basic black and white figure sitting with the seatbelt across the
body and lap. I used a picture in the middle of the page to show the kids a visual example of
what wearing a seatbelt looks like.

The picture also says safe on the seatbelt representing the

importance of it. Along the right side of the billboard in red letters it says Safe, horizontally
with the letters representing S-Seatbelts, A- Are, F- For, E-Everyone. This will emphasize the
importance of their safety when it comes to wearing their seatbelt. I decided to use large print
and a short saying because I wanted to grab the childrens attention. The reason I decided not to
use a natural color background or a very busy picture was because I felt like it was not bold
enough, and my point was to be straight forward and easily identified. My groups decision to
make a billboard as the genre for children was a wonderful idea. It was the easiest way to get a
large number of kids to see it and was made so almost all children could understand it. Having a
huge billboard in the middle of a long boring road can attract childrens attention as well as
adults interest and help them to identify vehicle safety. The only aspect I was concerned about
with the billboard was that very young children who have not yet developed the ability to read
wouldnt understand the billboard. The only way they could understand it was if an adult read it
to them or if they could understand the visual picture.
While collaborating, my group decided that another great way to spread the importance
of vehicle safety was through bumper stickers. Bumper stickers are actually seen by countless
numbers of people making this a fantastic means of advertising. Since most adults drive daily,
bumper stickers are seen by many people every day.

On the bumper sticker we made it had a

dark background with the words Someone loves you in the middle hoping to be eye catching to
all. Someone loves you was the best statement to remind people that they are important and

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that wearing their seatbelts could save their life. Realizing all the people who need you and
depend on you every day should clearly encourage seatbelt safety. Underneath that saying, in
smaller words is the phrase, Wear Your Seatbelt. This is to put a meaning behind the first
statement and to inform people that they are not only loved, but there is also a reason why they
should be wearing their seatbelt. A genre convention that was not used was a catchy rhyme or a
picture. The bumper sticker that my group created was easily understood and direct to its point.
While sitting at a stoplight or a stop sign, you have a short amount of time to look at the bumper
sticker, so just a few words to state the importance is all you need to get your point across. Since
people are reading about seatbelts while in their car, if they do not have their seatbelts on, they
could buckle up after the reminder. I feel our groups decision to make a bumper sticker, as a
genre for adults to use was a brilliant idea because it is not a conventional or traditional idea, but
something different and something that would be seen by so many. Confidently, I feel that the
bumper sticker was made perfectly and could not be made any better than it was designed. The
only genre constraint that got in the way was determining if it could be easily seen. Since the
pattern is so dark maybe on some darker cars the sticker may not stand out as good as we hoped.
The last genre my group and I decided to use was the newspaper article; we felt this
would be most appealing to the elderly. Most commonly, you see older people reading the
newspaper so incorporating the importance of seatbelt safety through an article would be most
effective use of that genre. In this article titled Seatbelt Safety, we factually inform readers
that it is imperative to wear your seatbelts for safety. It reminds readers of the dangers of not
choosing their seatbelts as well current laws about wearing seatbelts. Statistics about who is
more likely to wear seatbelts is represented in the article as well. These statistics will help older
people to understand the importance of wearing a seatbelt and some of the possibilities that could

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occur if they do not where one. Some genre conventions we decided not use were pictures of
fatal crashes and the image of injuries and what they could look like if you do not wear your
seatbelt. This article was a great idea to catch the older generations attention, but I feel like it
needed a little more information to grab the readers interest and to teach them how bad injuries
could be if you do not wear your seatbelt. We could have found some actual injuries that have
occurred with people in fatal accidents who were not wearing their seatbelts and other evidence
associated with what happens in a vehicle when safety measures are not being taken. I think my
group took full advantage appealing to the focus group of elder people when deciding to create a
factual newspaper article. I felt like one of our down falls to the newspaper article was that it
was to short. Newspaper articles do not consist of only one paragraph.
Based on the information presented and the genres my group and I created, it is easy to
see that wearing a seatbelt is the most important safety precaution you can take when in a
vehicle. The best text that met its social function was the bumper sticker. Confidently, I feel our
billboard, bumper sticker, and newspaper article were effective ways to spread the information to
a broad group of people. The text that did not meet its social function was the newspaper article.
Although it was a very well written article, I think it could have used more interesting facts. I
feel if a story was added that the article would have been more affective. It should have been
more interesting and fact filled to grab the older generations attention. As a group, I feel that we
made a lot of very good decisions with the genres we chose to pick and how we targeted them to
the different age groups. The main subject from each genre was made clear and direct. The only
thing I would have changed would be the genre for the elders. Although our newspaper article
met its main function, there could have been a better genre to get the older generation to see the
importance of wearing a seatbelt.

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Work Cited
"Travel and Motor Vehicle Safety." Emergency Care for You. American College of
Emergency Physician. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.emergencycareforyou.org/YourHealth/TravelAndMotorVehicleSafety/Default.aspx
?id=26106>.
"What Happens in a Crash?" The Need for Seat Belts and Children Restraints. Web. 16
Nov. 2014.
<http://www.who.int/roadsafety/projects/manuals/seatbelt/seat_belt_manual_module_1.pdf>.Wo
rk Cited