The Insurance Commission has renewed its partnership with RugbyWA to promote its ‘Belt up’ road safety awareness campaign.
The campaign encourages seat belt use to reduce the severity of injury in a car accident. In 2017 alone, 71 people who were not wearing a seat belt were killed or seriously injured on WA roads.
The four-year deal sees the Insurance Commission continue to provide essential sporting equipment to community rugby clubs and support two dedicated Belt up rounds covering all senior grades. Since 2014, the Insurance Commission has provided over 10,000 Belt up-branded rugby balls and training equipment to all 36 Western Australian rugby clubs.
The partnership also supports RugbyWA’s Regional Rugby Program by increasing the number of regional visits and helping boost the road safety message in regional areas, which are over-represented in vehicle crashes.
HARD-HITTING MESSAGE
Kane Blackman, Commission Secretary at the Insurance Commission, says: “Rugby players can make some big tackles but those forces are nothing compared to being unrestrained in a car crash. While most of us wear seat belts, there are still people, particularly young men, who don’t. You’re much more likely to be killed in a car crash if you’re not wearing a seat belt."
“By working with RugbyWA, we can get this important road safety message to their members, players and the community.
Lessening car crash trauma leads to lower costs and better outcomes for the injured person.”
Rugby WA CEO Bob Hunter comments: “From the RugbyWA community perspective, this is a fabulous partnership that provides clubs with key equipment and literally puts the Belt up message in the hands of all our players across the state.
“The partnership expansion into our rural program also helps target a key cohort of players that travel a long way to attend training and games.“We look forward to continuing to engage the rugby community on the Belt Up message.”
BELT UP PARTNERS
The Insurance Commission has supported and funded the Belt up campaign since 1997. The campaign’s other sporting partners are West Australian Country Football League (WACFL), Netball WA, and Football West.
