The number of Iowans buckling up is paying off in the form of more federal safety funds. Jan Goldsmith of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau says Iowa is getting an extra two-hundred-30-thousand dollars under a federal transportation program that rewards seatbelt usage.States with seatbelt usage above the national average of 70-percent get extra federal funds. Iowa’s seatbelt usage is 78-percent. That’s seventh highest in the country. Goldsmith says the extra funds will be funneled back into safety programs.She says the enforcement efforts will center on smaller cities. She says people in those cities often are fooled into thinking they’re safer because there’s less traffic. Goldsmith says they also want to try a new approach by partnering with companies to promote seatbelt usage among their employees.Goldsmith says companies save money by not having employees file expensive insurance claims or miss work due to injuries suffered in auto accidents. Goldsmith says the state already received over 830-thousand dollars in federal safety funds, so there’s now more than one-million dollars for the state’s traffic safety effort.
