The most dangerous thing a Soldier does – on or off-duty – is to ride in or operate a motor vehicle!
From FY19-FY23, 75% of all off-duty Soldier fatalities involved motor vehicles and 42% of those occurred in passenger (PMV-4) vehicles.
The lives of many of the 174 Soldiers who died in PMV-4 mishaps could have been saved if they had only taken the 3 seconds needed to fasten their seat belts.
According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, 50% of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2021 were not wearing seat belts.
Seat belts and other forms of occupant restraint systems are NOT optional equipment and use is mandated for all military personnel by AR 385-10, The Army Safety and Occupational Health Program - and that mandate applies anytime and anywhere!
Buckling up is the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself in a crash. Being buckled up during a crash helps keep you safe and secure inside your vehicle; being completely ejected from a vehicle is almost always deadly.
Always make that 3-second move and make sure everyone else in your vehicle does too!
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