Star Staff Reports
Munford High School DECA is running a public relations campaign about the importance of ATV helmet safety.
The campaign, “Big or Small-Helmets are for All,” has participation from the entire chapter and is being led by chapter officers, Lainey Moody and Chris Watson. This campaign hits close to home as many in our rural area often ride ATV’s for both work and leisure.
Tennessee is the seventh leading state for ATV-related deaths due largely to riders not wearing helmets. In a crash, riders without helmets are 67 percent more likely to have Traumatic Brain Injuries than helmeted riders. There have been 118 fatal crashes and 874 reported injuries due to crashes without helmets since 2007 (www.CPSC.gov).
The chapter rented a booth at Munford Celebrate to spread awareness about helmet safety and collect pledges to practice helmet safety from the community. They have also created a change.org site to garner more support for their awareness campaign. Future plans for more public outreach on the topic include visiting a local ATV trail-riding site, a radio announcement with a local radio station, and a football game night announcement as a reminder to their peers to be safe on their weekend riding adventures.
Remember that helmets prevent head, face, and neck injuries, so please practice helmet safety!
For more information about MHS DECA, email advisor, Heidi Miller, at hmiller@tipton-county.com.