Patrol hosts Saved by the Belt event at Kings Island

On Saturday, Oct. 12, the Ohio State Highway Patrol partnered with Kings Island to host a Saved by the Belt event. The event was held at the amusement park.

Nine individuals became members of the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Saved by the Belt club. Each recipient received a framed Saved by the Belt certificate, license plate and license plate bracket.

There were recipients recognized from the Patrol’s Jackson, Piqua and Wilmington districts. Kings Island provided each recipient and their family members with one-day admission tickets to the park.

The recipients included:
- Dustin Akers, 27, Proctorville
- Reba L. Gilbert, 71, Dayton
- Bobbi Gilkerson, 17, Lebanon
- Elaine P. Halterman, 38, Urbana
- Chase Lambert, 18, Lebanon
- Curtis Blake Payne, 25, Beaver
- Sarah VanDyke, 23, Zanesfield
- Timothy W. Walker, 46, Milford
- Wanda L. Walters, 88, Huber Heights.

The Saved by the Belt nomination is in recognition of wearing a safety belt when involved in a traffic crash, thus avoiding serious injury or death.

From 2019 to current, there have been over 292,000 unbelted crashes on Ohio roadways. Of those crashes, over 2,900 were fatal crashes. During that same time, more than 60 percent of all fatal crashes involved an unbelted individual when a safety belt was available.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is an internationally accredited agency whose mission is to provide unbiased, professional public safety services through inclusion, collaboration and innovation.

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