Celebrating Partnership And A Life Saving Choice To Buckle Up

How did the Arkansas Highway Safety Office newest 'Saved By The Belt Story' come about? So glad you asked. Here's the back-story on how that all played out. It’s about a partnership and celebrating three men who made a life-saving choice to buckle up. If you represent a law enforcement agency or an individual with a 'Saved By The Belt' story, keep reading only if this sounds interesting.

As you know, there's a tremendous amount of information flowing in any Highway Safety Office that would benefit our state law enforcement agencies and the general public hence all the focus on raising awareness for the HSO, what they do and the safety messages. A part of the HSO's job is to continue to aim this traffic safey information and effectively communicate it, all designed to reduce traffic related fatalities, injuries and economic loss on State roadways.

A couple of AHSO program managers Michael Catanach, Egrants/STEPS and Earma Brown, Public Information/Education were talking when he told her about one of his STEP agency participants, Chief Grizzle. Michael and the Chief had developed a great relationship. Also, Chief Grizzle had just volunteered to help raise awareness about what the HSO does in any way he could. (Not knowing his opportunity was on the horizon.) Michael got excited and said our Public Information person will love hearing this…He was right. According to Earma, she did get excited but didn’t exactly know how they were going to utilize their first volunteer to help raise awareness. So she just listened to Michael rave about Chief Grizzle and tucked his name away.

Not long after, a few weeks – the awful opportunity came. Two of Chief Grizzle’s officers were involved in a head-on collision and survived to tell about it. In fact, several local news stations reported the story interviewing the Chief Grizzle and their Mayor.

Michael and Earma collaborated and met with the Chief and one of the officers (involved in the crash) on Zoom. It was decided that the life saving choice of these men would be the first story in the ‘Saved By The Belt’ story section on the TZDArkansas.org and the Department of Public Safety – Arkansas State Police – AHSO web section. So that’s the back story on how the first story of the revived Saved By The Belt program came to be. Now for their 'Saved By The Belt Story, go here: https://tzdarkansas.org/news/saved-by-the-belt-story1/

Make The Life Saving Choice Buckle Up Arkansas!

Submit your ‘Saved By The Belt’ story | Nominate a traffic crash survivor. (Agency, Law Enforcement, Emergency, Safety Professional Only)