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Shealyn Dwyer
Ms. Hamby
UWRT
17 November 2014
Driving With your Seatbelt Fastened
What is a commonly known safety tip that you are aware of when you are driving 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 riding in a car with a seatbelt on, 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 changes directions
suddenly. It causes you to stay where you are instead of causing you to go through the
windshield (The Need for Seatbelts and Children Restrains 6). Wearing a seatbelt by front seat
passengers 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 what age 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 your seatbelt, seeing it as a safety issue
as well as the law. Positive education will help them understand that seatbelts are so important,
they can keep them safe if they are in a collision or even save their lives.

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Another group that needs to be educated on the importance of wearing a seatbelt is adults.
Many think that since they are older and 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 higher risk to get injured if in an accident. The age of a
person determines how frail and fragile they are, this is why elderly must be extremely careful
especially while they are driving. Due to the fact this group of people lose the quality and
preciseness of their senses; it is easy for them to become seriously injured with even minor
accidents. Their reaction time decreases resulting in unnecessary accidents. 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 a younger driver. Commonly this group of people has a harder time hearing sirens, horns,
or bells, which makes it more dangerous for every ones 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 about seatbelts, I decided to create an eye catching
billboard. Strategically placing the billboard along the roadway on a lower stand would make it
easily seen as children gaze out the vehicle window. I thought it would be a great idea to place
the concept on a billboard where kids could look at it and learn something new. I feel bright
orange background and bold writing will grab the childrens immediate attention. The saying

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Arrive Alive along with a picture representing a person wearing a seatbelt will be in the middle
of the billboard. The image was basic black and white figure sitting wearing the seatbelt across
the body and lap. I used a picture in the middle of the page to show the kids visually 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 plain and boring
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, as well as adults interest and
can help them to identify vehicle safety. The only constraint I was concern about with the
billboard was that very young children who not yet had the ability to read due to their age
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. Since most all adults drive, bumper stickers
could easily be seen by millions of people. Actually bumper stickers are seen by countless
numbers of people making this a fantastic means of advertising. In the bumper sticker created
used 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

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important and the safety while wearing seatbelts can 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, Wear Your Seatbelt. This is to put a meaning behind the first
statement and to inform people that it is not only that you are loved, but also there is a reason
why you should be wearing your 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 sticks
to the point. 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 define the importance is all you need to get your point
across. 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 much 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. 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. These statistics will help the older people to understand the
importance of wearing a seatbelt and some of the possibilities that could occur if they do not
where one. Some genre conventions we decided not use were pictured of fatal crashes and the

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image of injuries and what they could look like if you do not wear your seatbelt. This article was
a great idea to get the older generation to look at it, but I feel like it needed a little more
information to grab the readers attention 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 there were no genre constraints when it came to the newspaper
article.
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 billboard. 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 be 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 grouped them
with 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. Finally, I wish we decided to
put an advertisement on a placemat setting for diners and other restaurants rather than a
newspaper article.

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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/TravelAndMotorVehicleSafet
y/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_modu
le_1.pdf>.Work Cited