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WVDOT urges citizens: Buckle Up! Phone Down!

CHARLESTON, WV – The West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) joins approximately 30 other states in celebrating national Buckle Up! Phone Down! Day on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, and urges drivers to buckle their seatbelts and put down their cell phones each and every time they get behind the wheel.
 
“During the past five years, 77 people have lost their lives and 4,636 additional people have been injured, some severely, on the state’s highways due to distracted driving,” said West Virginia Transportation Secretary Stephen Todd Rumbaugh, P.E.  “During the same time period, 455 people died as a result of failing to buckle their seatbelt when driving or riding in a motor vehicle. 
 
“In recognition of the state’s commitment to achieving our goal of zero highway fatalities by 2050, and to bring awareness to these serious highway safety concerns, the WVDOT has declared this week to be Buckle Up! Phone Down! Week,” Rumbaugh said.
 
Buckling up and putting cell phones away are two of the simplest and most effective ways drivers can lessen the chances of a crash for both themselves and their passengers. The WVDOT is urging both employees and West Virginia high school students to make a pledge to put on their seatbelts and put their cell phones down each and every time they drive.
 
To find out more about the Buckle Up! Phone Down! campaign, or to take the pledge, visit https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/33cc5eba004b481490392445ab1e0338/page
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