Buckle Up grant program contract signed by commissioners

Mineral County DUI Treatment Court Coordinator Juli Balenger was on hand at the Jan. 31 meeting of the Mineral County Commissioners to present the commissioners with the Buckle Up Grant Contract for their approval.

The grant, which is funded by the Montana Department of Transportation, focuses on creating a program to aid in eliminating automobile fatalities by raising awareness for the importance of seatbelts.

“Between 2007 and 2011 880 drivers and passengers died in vehicle crashes on Montana’s roads,” Balenger said. “More than 67 percent of those people were not wearing seatbelts. Another 3,500 were injured were over 21 percent of them were not wearing seatbelts.”

Balenger said the goal is to increase seatbelt usage in the county.

MDT awarded Mineral County the grant and Balenger said she already met with the coalition in Missoula and that the two counties, along with Ravalli, would be working together on the project.

“We will save money by doing that if we all work together and if we do things the same going from county to county people will see the same signs consistently,” Balenger said.

Balenger added that Steve Carty, CEO of the Mineral Community Hospital, has agreed to put up signage at the hospital reminding residents to buckle up and she will be going to county schools in hopes of placing signs there as well.

“It seems like it’s going to be a pretty successful program,” Balenger said.

Mineral County Commissioner Duane Simons made a motion to accept and sign the Buckle Up Grant Contract in the amount of $23,000. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Laurie Johnston and approved unanimously.