SGI takes rollover simulator out for a spin

SGI is driving home the message of how seatbelts save lives with its newest traffic safety tool, a rollover simulator.”Given our vast network of roads in Saskatchewan, some residents may think seatbelts are not important in areas where there is little traffic,” the minister responsible for SGI, Glenn Hagel, says. “However, most fatal crashes where seatbelts have not been used are single-vehicle collisions, particularly rollovers.”The rollover simulator graphically shows what can happen when a vehicle occupant doesn’t buckle up.”The rollover simulator is a cab of a vehicle with a motorized encasement mounted on top. The encasement rolls the cab, simulating a rollover incident. Straw-filled dummies are used to show the effectiveness of seatbelts, by simulating rollovers with the dummies belted and then unbelted.SGI has partnered with the RCMP to take the simulator on the road to rural high schools, First Nations communities, trade fairs, malls and other community events as part of its traffic safety education program.”RCMP members attend far too many survivable rollover crashes on the roadways in Saskatchewan where someone has died because they were not buckled up,” Inspector Don Ross, RCMP officer in charge of traffic services, said. “We believe the rollover simulator can help us save lives by showing people that seatbelts are the best protection in most types of single vehicle crashes.”SGI estimates that for every two unbelted drivers or passengers who die in auto collision, one would have lived had he or she taken the time to buckle up.