Police present ‘Saved by the Belt’ awards to two Rockford citizens

From press release

The Rockford Police Department will present Saved by the Belt awards to Cathy and Rachel Huffman of Rockford.

At approximately 3:56 p.m., Feb. 22, Cathy and Rachel were traveling together in a 2009 Toyota Camry, westbound on Charles Street at 11th Street. Cathy, the driver, was traveling with traffic at approximately 30 mph. Another driver approached the intersection from the rear of Huffman’s vehicle, lost control because of weather conditions and excessive speed, and crashed into the Huffmans’ car.

The rear impact caused both vehicles to rotate and collide with one another multiple times, causing severe damage to three sides of Huffman’s vehicle as well as side-impact air-bag deployment. The Huffmans were both transported to the hospital, and later release with minor injuries.

The Huffmans’ vehicle was a total loss. The on-scene traffic investigator determined that the Huffmans would very likely have received serious or fatal injuries had they not been properly restrained within their vehicle. The investigator nominated the Huffmans for this award in an effort to further educate the citizens of Rockford that safety-belt use saves lives and reduces the probability of serious injuries in the event of a crash.

The program is sponsored by the Illinois Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Through the cooperation with Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, the 2009 Illinois Safety Challenge awarded the Rockford Police Department first in the state of Illinois for traffic safety efforts (comparable sized cities only). The Rockford Police Department also finished third nationwide in the National Traffic Safety Challenge competition. Both the state and national organizations judge individual police departments on their effort and effectiveness in traffic safety.

Print This Article