Educational Materials
The Utah Department of Public Safety’s Highway Safety Office (USHO) has brochures, flyers, posters and other educational materials available to the public. To order materials contact its customer service specialist at 801-366-6040.
Other materials are available through various traffic safety partners in Utah by clicking on the partners link located at the bottom of this page. In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has a traffic safety materials catalog available online.
Traffic safety and safety restraint videos can be obtained, on loan, from the Utah Safety Council.
Car Seat Fitting Stations
Most parents are surprised to learn that seven out of ten kids are not riding in properly used and appropriate car seats. To help solve this issue certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians work to educate families and provide instruction on the proper use of car seats. Much of this education is provided at fitting stations, which can be found across the state. Fitting stations are generally located at health departments, law enforcement agencies, hospitals and other locations that serve the public. However don’t assume that your local fire department or police agency has a Nationally Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician on hand, as many do not. To get a free inspection please schedule an appointment with your nearest fitting station.
Seat Belt Statistics
In their simplest form, statistics can help identify the forces involved in a crash and increase awareness of how seat belts fit into the equation. In a vehicle collision, even a small one, passengers can be seriously injured or killed due to these crash forces. While a variety of factors affect the amount of force involved in a crash, the easiest way to determine these forces is to take the weight of the occupant times the vehicle speed before the crash. For example, a 150-pound adult in a motor vehicle moving at a speed of 30 mph would require 4,500 pounds of restraining force. Safety restraints work to prevent injury by absorbing these forces. If that isn’t enough to convince you to buckle up, consider this: a car going 40 mph would hit a tree with the same force as hitting the ground after falling off a 50-foot cliff. An unbuckled person inside that car would hit the windshield with the same force as hitting the ground after falling off a five-story building. Hitting the windshield, dashboard or even other passengers with that much force can cause serious and lifelong injuries or death.
For Utah statistics, the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Highway Safety Office publishes:
The Utah Crash Summary and Utah Crash Fact Sheets
Utah Safety Belt Observational Survey
For national statistics, please visit:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety