Governor Mike Parson has proclaimed Friday, October 22 as Buckle Up Phone Down Day in Missouri in an effort to encourage Missourians to take two simple actions to save lives on the state’s highways – fasten their seat belts and put their phones down while driving.

For the fifth straight year, the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety, along with safety partners throughout the state, will mark Buckle Up Phone Down Day to encourage better driving behaviors.

According to a news release, since the program began in 2017, the BUPD initiative has spread steadily across Missouri and into more than a dozen other states. More than 14,000 individuals and businesses have accepted the BUPD challenge, and several other states are actively sharing the messages along their highways.

Missouri’s 2021 Seat Belt Usage Survey showed 88 percent of vehicle occupants use a seat belt, matching the highest rate the state has ever recorded. But the unbuckled 12 percent make up a majority of the state’s roadway fatalities, which spiked in 2020 despite a decrease in traffic volume. More than two-thirds of the drivers and passengers killed in traffic crashes last year were not wearing a seat belt.

Officials say cellphone use continues to be one of the most concerning behaviors for all roadway users. In 2020, nearly 60 percert of the distracted driving fatalities in Missouri claimed the life of someone besides the distracted driver.

Missourians can accept the challenge to BUPD at modot.org/bupd and spread the word on social media using the hashtags #BUPD and #BUPDDay.