TYLER, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety unveiled a sobering reminder of the importance of buckling your seat belt.
"Kailee's Crash" is a sculpture that captures a vehicle in mid-air. It is based off a crash that cost the life of 16-year-old Kailee Mills.
Mills, who was not driving the vehicle, unbuckled her seat belt to take a selfie with a friend in the back seat. The driver lost control of the vehicle at that moment. Her friends, who were all buckled in, suffered minor injuries. Kailee was killed.
“We are sharing Kailee’s story in hopes that we can convince drivers and passengers of all ages to always wear their seat belts," Kailee's father David Mills said. "We don’t want any other family to go through the pain and grief of losing a loved one like we have.”
According to DPS, 982 Texans, or 43% of the people killed in crashes in 2018, died because they did not wear a seat belt. That is a 6% increase from 2017.
“We can’t emphasize enough that wearing a seat belt is the single most effective way to protect yourself and your loved ones from serious injury or death in a crash,” TxDOT Executive Director James Bass said. “Many of these deaths and injuries are preventable; it’s really a shame that 8.5% of Texans are still not buckling up.
For most vehicles, not wearing a seat belt increases the chase of being killed in a crash to 45%. That number increases to 60% for those riding in a pickup truck.
DPS says there is a decreasing number of people who wear their seat belt at night time, when more than half of deadly crashes happen.
Beginning Monday and lasting until June 2, DPS will increase their enforcement of seat belt laws for Click It-or-Ticket. Seat belt offenses can total up to $200.
Children must also retrained in a child safety seat or booster seat until they are taller than 4'9''. If children are not properly restrained, drivers could be fined up to $250.
