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Pig Photo
Truck Wreck Photo
Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about safety belts. For me, buckling up is such a habit that I don’t even notice doing it. But one morning earlier this year, I couldn’t help but notice being buckled up. That’s because I was on the side of the road, hanging upside down in my truck, held in place by nothing but my safety belt.
I was driving me and my friend Trey to the Bell County Youth Fair and Livestock Show early that morning to show our hogs. Out of nowhere, there was a loud pop, and the truck went out of control, spun end over end and landed upside down, broken in half. I reached for Trey, who was also held upside down by his safety belt, too. We were both scared to death, but alive. Looking back, I know we probably would have been thrown out of the truck and probably ended up dead if we hadn’t been buckled up.
I always felt safe driving my pickup because it’s so big, but after it happened, someone told me that pickup trucks are twice as likely as cars to roll over in a serious crash. I learned that most people who aren’t buckled up when they’re in a rollover pickup truck crash end up dead. I’m in high school and Trey’s in junior high, and I know that lots of kids our age don’t buckle up. What happened to us could happen to anyone, so Trey and I have been trying to make sure everyone we know buckles up every time, no matter how far they’re going.
That’s why we’re helping to make sure people know about TxDOT’s Click It or Ticket campaign. From May 18 to May 31, troopers, sheriff’s deputies and police officers are going to work long hours giving tickets to people who aren’t wearing their safety belts. You can get a ticket whether you’re in the front seat or if your kids aren’t buckled up, and you might have to pay up to $200, plus the cost of going to court.
Trey and I are proud to help TxDOT get Texans to buckle up, especially people our age. Our crashed truck has been part of special Click It or Ticket events at high schools, and thousands of kids and teachers have seen it. When people see how messed up the truck is, they can’t believe we’re still alive. We did get a little beat up—I had a sprained ankle, Trey had some cuts on his head, a sprained wrist and a torn-up shoulder. But the next day we were still able to go back to the Bell County Livestock Show and show our own animals. We even won Grand Reserve in our class.
We hope that our story and Click It or Ticket will remind more people to buckle up every single time they go anywhere. More than 1.7 million Texans who are 17 and younger aren’t buckling up, so you probably know someone who needs to hear our story. Pass it on and buckle up, Texas. It really could save your life.
Ethan Mitchell
Junior in High School
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