UMass Transportation Center, Sara’s Wish Foundation Expand ‘Buckle Up for Safety’ Campaign

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Following a survey showing that a straightforward public awareness campaign can increase seat belt use on motorcoaches tenfold, the University of Massachusetts Transportation Center and Amherst-based Sara’s Wish Foundation are expanding the campaign at bus stations around the Northeast.

It’s an effort championed by Anne and Charles Schewe, professor emeritus of marketing at UMass Amherst. Their daughter, Sara Christie Schewe, was killed in a bus crash while studying in India in 1996.

“Sara was 20 years old, and she was on a bus, and it went off the road and went into an embankment and turned over and hit a tree. So, she was killed along with six other people,” says Anne.

“If she had had a seat belt, she would have been alive,” Charles says.

The Schewes established Sara’s Wish Foundation to sustain Sara’s living spirit by promoting travel safety around the globe and providing support to young women working in the areas of education, health care and public service.

All new motorcoaches in the U.S. must be equipped with lap and shoulder belts for all seating positions under a federal rule that has been in effect since November 2016. However, research indicates that passenger use of safety belts has been surprisingly low. In fact, a summer 2021 survey by the UMass Transportation Center and Sara’s Wish found just 3% of motorcoach passengers in the New England area buckled up.

After a three-pronged awareness campaign consisting of in-vehicle announcements urging passengers to “Buckle Up for Safety,” colorful messages affixed to the back of each bus seat encouraging passengers to buckle up, and signage placed outside the bus or in the bus station ticketing area promoting use of safety belts, researchers observed that seat belt use increased to 30%. The study was funded by a grant from the National Safety Council and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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Recent statistics show that the U.S., for the first time in nearly a half century, recorded zero crash-related fatalities of motorcoach occupants in 2021 – likely because of the decline in ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic, as would-be travelers curtailed their activities. The goal of this campaign is to enhance passenger safety and make that number zero every year.

A modified version of the campaign has now been implemented at South Station in Boston, with signs urging passengers to “BE SAFE - SiT->CLiCK->RiDE - Please Buckle Up!” placed at ticket counters and at bus loading areas. In addition, drivers are encouraged to make a verbal announcement promoting seat belt use aboard the bus.

“Obviously, a seat belt would keep everyone contained on the bus, so it’s definitely a good thing to do, to encourage it, so in the unlikely event there is an accident, you’re going to save lives,” notes Mark Richardson, South Station general manager.

Plans are in the works to expand the campaign to bus stations in Springfield, New York City, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. 

“If we can save one life, I think that would be Sara’s wish,” her mother says.