Holiday road safety starts with a click
2025-11-19
Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday for travel with millions of Americans hitting the roads to visit family and friends. Last year, AAA projected a record 71.7 million people would travel by car over the long weekend. We anticipate even higher volumes this year due to recent air travel unpredictability.
Thanksgiving is also among the deadliest holidays. In 2023, 309 people perished in traffic crashes. Nearly half of these fatalities involved individuals who weren’t wearing a seatbelt. We’re spreading the word: holiday road safety starts with a click.
Three things everyone should do
Kendra Blocker, lead seat belt engineer and technical specialist at General Motors, suggests three things everyone should do – every time you get into a car, including a rideshare or taxi.
Buckle up – every ride and in every seat. Seat belt usage goes down the further back in the vehicle you go. According to NHTSA, in 2024 seat belt usage in the front row was approximately 91%, but usage in rear seats remains far lower.
Wear your seat belt correctly. Improperly wearing a seat belt, such as putting the strap below your arm, puts you at risk in a crash. Properly worn seat belts can reduce fatalities by 45% among front-seat passengers and cut serious injuries by 50%.
Ensure others are bucked up too. Some people have a false sense of safety in the rear seats. The truth of the matter is that almost half of in-vehicle fatalities involve unbuckled passengers, and many of these are unbuckled back seat riders.
Blocker is a mother of two and remarked how studies show children are more likely to buckle up when adults set the example. Airbags are not enough because they are designed to work with seat belts, not replace them.
“I always make people buckle up in my car before the wheels even move,” she said. “Wearing a seat belt is the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself and others in the vehicle.”
GM’s vehicle safety technologies improve awareness
CAPTION: Buckle to Drive reminds drivers to fasten their seat belts before shifting out of Park.
GM engineers like Blocker design safety features based on real driver behavior and human-centered research to help keep people safe on the road. This includes advanced vehicle technologies that remind drivers and passengers to buckle up
Buckle to Drive is a feature standard on 2025 and 2026 GM models. When activated, this feature can prevent the driver from shifting out of Park for 20 seconds or until their seat belt is buckled; on many models, if a front-seat passenger is present, their belt must also be buckled before the driver can shift out of Park. Buckle to Drive helps keep that habitual behavior going, so that seat belt usage becomes so automatic, you don’t even think about it.
Rear Seat Belt Reminder, available on many GM vehicles, is designed to display an icon on the instrument cluster to show which rear-seat passengers are buckled and which are not – including those in the third row, on equipped vehicles. If a rear-seat passenger unbuckles while you’re driving, you’ll see a red X icon in the display and hear a safety chime. It’s a simple but powerful tool to help make sure everyone is buckled on every ride. No matter which seat the vehicle occupants are sitting in, you can determine whether they have their seat belt on.
GM’s Teen Driver technology works hand-in-hand with Buckle to Drive and is designed to help new drivers improve their skills. When a Teen Driver-designated key fob is used, available Teen Driver helps encourage better driving habits by providing an in-vehicle report card. It also activates certain safety systems when a Teen Driver-designated key fob is used, such as muting the radio and preventing shifting until the front-seat occupants fasten their seat belts.
GM’s philanthropic efforts promote seat belt usage
Seat belts save lives in every stage of life, from young children to teens to senior adults. GM supports several nonprofit programs aimed at spreading awareness, educating and providing resources to drive greater seat belt and child safety seat usage.
Safe Kids Worldwide – For more than 25 years, we have worked together to spread awareness and help educate on safe practices for families in and around vehicles through dozens of published research reports and campaigns, and more than 2.4 million car seat checks to ensure proper child restraint in vehicle.
CarFit Program – Led by AARP and the American Occupational Therapy Association, this program helps increase safety of mature drivers by improving their personal vehicle fit, including seat belt adjustments.
Why this matters…
“I had a close family member who never wore a seat belt and tragically lost his life in a crash,” said Blocker. “This left a lasting impression on me, and it fuels my passion around passenger safety.”
Help us spread the word. Seat belts save lives. Buckle up every ride and in every seat.
Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday for travel with millions of Americans hitting the roads to visit family and friends. Last year, AAA projected a record 71.7 million people would travel by car over the long weekend. We anticipate even higher volumes this year due to recent air travel unpredictability.
Thanksgiving is also among the deadliest holidays. In 2023, 309 people perished in traffic crashes. Nearly half of these fatalities involved individuals who weren’t wearing a seatbelt. We’re spreading the word: holiday road safety starts with a click.
Three things everyone should do
Kendra Blocker, lead seat belt engineer and technical specialist at General Motors, suggests three things everyone should do – every time you get into a car, including a rideshare or taxi.
- Buckle up – every ride and in every seat. Seat belt usage goes down the further back in the vehicle you go. According to NHTSA, in 2024 seat belt usage in the front row was approximately 91%, but usage in rear seats remains far lower.
- Wear your seat belt correctly. Improperly wearing a seat belt, such as putting the strap below your arm, puts you at risk in a crash. Properly worn seat belts can reduce fatalities by 45% among front-seat passengers and cut serious injuries by 50%.
- Ensure others are bucked up too. Some people have a false sense of safety in the rear seats. The truth of the matter is that almost half of in-vehicle fatalities involve unbuckled passengers, and many of these are unbuckled back seat riders.
Blocker is a mother of two and remarked how studies show children are more likely to buckle up when adults set the example. Airbags are not enough because they are designed to work with seat belts, not replace them.
“I always make people buckle up in my car before the wheels even move,” she said. “Wearing a seat belt is the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself and others in the vehicle.”
GM’s vehicle safety technologies improve awareness
Buckle to Drive reminds drivers to fasten their seat belts before shifting out of Park.
GM engineers like Blocker design safety features based on real driver behavior and human-centered research to help keep people safe on the road. This includes advanced vehicle technologies that remind drivers and passengers to buckle up
Buckle to Drive is a feature standard on 2025 and 2026 GM models. When activated, this feature can prevent the driver from shifting out of Park for 20 seconds or until their seat belt is buckled; on many models, if a front-seat passenger is present, their belt must also be buckled before the driver can shift out of Park. Buckle to Drive helps keep that habitual behavior going, so that seat belt usage becomes so automatic, you don’t even think about it.
Rear Seat Belt Reminder, available on many GM vehicles, is designed to display an icon on the instrument cluster to show which rear-seat passengers are buckled and which are not – including those in the third row, on equipped vehicles. If a rear-seat passenger unbuckles while you’re driving, you’ll see a red X icon in the display and hear a safety chime. It’s a simple but powerful tool to help make sure everyone is buckled on every ride. No matter which seat the vehicle occupants are sitting in, you can determine whether they have their seat belt on.
GM’s Teen Driver technology works hand-in-hand with Buckle to Drive and is designed to help new drivers improve their skills. When a Teen Driver-designated key fob is used, available Teen Driver helps encourage better driving habits by providing an in-vehicle report card. It also activates certain safety systems when a Teen Driver-designated key fob is used, such as muting the radio and preventing shifting until the front-seat occupants fasten their seat belts.
GM’s philanthropic efforts promote seat belt usage
Seat belts save lives in every stage of life, from young children to teens to senior adults. GM supports several nonprofit programs aimed at spreading awareness, educating and providing resources to drive greater seat belt and child safety seat usage.
- Safe Kids Worldwide – For more than 25 years, we have worked together to spread awareness and help educate on safe practices for families in and around vehicles through dozens of published research reports and campaigns, and more than 2.4 million car seat checks to ensure proper child restraint in vehicle.
- Teens in the Driver’s Seat – This program promotes safe teen driver and passenger practices through web-based resources, local chapters and summits reaching thousands of teens across the U.S.
- CarFit Program – Led by AARP and the American Occupational Therapy Association, this program helps increase safety of mature drivers by improving their personal vehicle fit, including seat belt adjustments.
Why this matters…
“I had a close family member who never wore a seat belt and tragically lost his life in a crash,” said Blocker. “This left a lasting impression on me, and it fuels my passion around passenger safety.”
Help us spread the word. Seat belts save lives. Buckle up every ride and in every seat.
