Northwest Iowa — The Iowa State Patrol is launching a campaign with an Iowa-based convenience store chain to encourage young drivers to wear their seat belts.
Iowa State Patrol Trooper Vince Kurtz says the “I Got Caught” campaign is based upon a campaign the Patrol used several years ago to encourage teen drivers to wear their seat belts.
Trooper Kurtz says this time, instead of a t-shirt, teen drivers will be getting something even better.
He says this campaign fits right into the Patrol’s desire to educate motorists.
Triple-A-Iowa is one of the Patrol’s partners in the “I Got Caught” campaign, and spokesman Mark Peterson says studies find that teens are the least likely to buckle up, and the most likely group to die in a roadway crash.
During 2014 and 2015, Peterson says Iowa had 91 teens involved in fatal crashes as drivers or passengers. Of those fatalities, more than half of them were not wearing their seat belts.
Kurtz says State troopers will be working in conjunction with the schools this spring at school facilities or school-sponsored events, including prom and graduation, and may even show up in your high school parking lot to hand out the “I Got Caught” gift certificates.
