State Police team up with Physician, Brain Injury Survivor
To Raise Awareness of Need to Wear Seatbelts

Daneille Wohl, brain injury survivor; speaks at launch of Spring 2008 Click It or Ticket mobilization



Danielle Wohl, a brain injury survivor, helped the Massachusetts State Police launch their Spring 2008 Click It or Ticket seatbelt campaign at an event at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. Injured nearly 20 years ago when the car in which she was an unbelted passenger was hit by a drunk driver, Ms. Wohl continues to suffer memory loss and visual impairment as a result of the crash. She urged members of the public to buckle up every time they drive or ride in a motor vehicle.

At the May 20 event, Ms. Wohl was joined by Colonel Mark F. Delaney, superintendent of the State Police; Philip Weiser, regional administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Dr. Brian Gilchrist, chief of surgery at Tufts' Floating Hospital for Children; and Beatriz Fuentes, a representative of the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts whose daughter Natalie died in a rollover accident in 2006.

"Safety belts are your best defense against other drivers and the best chance for survival in a crash, yet about one in every three Massachusetts drivers still aren't buckling up," said Colonel Delaney. "Statistics have proven time and again that safety belts save lives."

The Click It or Ticket mobilization, which includes additional roadway patrols by state and local police and activities designed to raise public awareness of the need to wear seatbelts, is made possible by $1.3 million in federal highway safety funds provided by the state's Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.