Before I Start Up, I Will Buckle-Up
Nevada City Rotary is proud to sponsor the annual Buckle-Up Scholarship for a graduating High School Senior in honor of a young teenage driver who was killed in 1998. Thanks to Pearce, as this year’s Buckle-Up Scholar is selected, we are highlighting the memory of Allie Sells.Less than a week after earning her driver’s license, sixteen year-old Allie wanted to take two friends for a short drive down the country road from her home outside Grass Valley. Her friends buckled up, but Allie did not. It had been raining for about 30 minutes, the narrow road was slick. In a quick moment, the vehicle flipped, Allie was pinned under the car and then pronounced dead at the scene. Her friends were able to walk away to get help. Emergency responders speculated that Allie lost control and over-corrected.
The California Highway Patrol noted her failure to wear a seat belt — not uncommon at the time. Between 1975 and 1996, the death rate for 16-year-old drivers had nearly doubled. 71% of youth killed in auto crashes were not wearing the seatbelts.
Allie was living in the home of a Nevada City Rotarian. Our Club set up a scholarship fund in Allie’s name and launched the Allie Sells Memorial Buckle-Up Campaign. The objective of the campaign was to educate young teenage drivers and the public on the safety value of wearing a seat belt. To reinforce a new attitude especially among teens, the core message was “Before I Start Up, I Will Buckle-Up.”
Nevada City Rotary developed and promoted a national Buckle-Up for Safety Campaign to enroll other Rotary Clubs, Interact Clubs, as well as other civic organizations with the Goal of:
- Increase seatbelt use by 85% by the year 2000
- Reduce child occupant facilities by 15% by the year 2000
- Increase the national seat belt use to 90% by the year 2005
- Reduce child occupant facilities by 25% by the year 2005
Over 25 years later, the National Safety Council reports:
In 2000, only 70.7% of front seat passengers were observed using seat belts, and 60.2% of occupant deaths were unrestrained.
The 2022 data show that seat belt use is at 91.6%, and unrestrained occupant deaths currently account for 49.8% of deaths.
Encouragingly, 2023 seat belt usage has further increased to 91.9%.
Congratulations to our scholarship recipients, to drivers for the increased safety of seatbelt use over the years, and to Nevada City Rotary and endowment fund managers at Nevada Union High School Foundation for the ongoing memorial to Allie!
For more information, visit AllieSells.com.