'Forever 16 in our memory'

Birth dates are important in our lives and provide us with a special opportunity to celebrate with family and friends. There are certain birthdays that take on a special meaning more than others, such as turning 16, 21, 30, 40 or 50.

With each advancing decade we attribute each celebration to certain situations in our life's journey.

Ask any teenager how eager they are to turn 16 so they can acquire their coveted driver's license. Ask anyone turning 21 how important being "legal" is to them. For those heading into their 30s, the hope of being involved in a career is paramount. After the age of 40 we begin to try to slow the ticking clock by even responding to our real age as "39 and holding."

What if you knew you would never reach your 21st birthday, much less get to finish your 16th year?

This is what happened to our family. I lost my firstborn granddaughter from a preventable death seven months after she turned 16. She lost her life in an auto accident from not wearing a seat belt. The driver of the car survived with only the bruised imprint from his seat belt on his shoulder. Now my granddaughter remains forever 16 in our memory.

There will be no 21st birthday celebration Aug. 4. My daughter, her husband and son will never realize those important advancing birthdays with her. Time has stood still for our family. Memories and "what ifs" are left.

We want to spare other families the ongoing pain of living without their children. We continue to promote seat belt usage, especially in the high schools.

The beginning of each school year we continue to distribute seat belt pledges to students seeking permission for parking decals in order to drive their cars to school. This year we will distribute over 7,000 pledges to high schools according to their individual needs. Youth and its feeling of invincibility brings no guarantee of a long life.

A recent press release from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reported that Florida's crash fatality rate dropped 14 percent last year to the lowest on record. Between 2008 and 2009, crash-related fatalities dropped from 2,983 to 2,563.

This same report showed that the fatalities of teen drivers and passengers, ages 15-19, have significantly fallen by more than 20 percent. Even with this good news, the report emphasized that teen drivers continue to over-represent in terms of crash frequency, posting the highest rate of crash involvement of any age cohort at 381 per 10,000 licensed drivers.

As parents, teachers, grandparents and as a community, we need to be vigilant and educate our teens to wear seat belts.

Last year's passage of the Dori Slosberg and Katie Marchetti Primary Seat Belt Law Act stated that all drivers and their front-seat passengers must be buckled up or be subject to being stopped and fined. The clock is ticking for adherence to the primary seat belt law for all Floridians.