When flight nurse Carolyn Hanig climbed out of the medical helicopter that had carried her to the car accident, she was directed to the back of an ambulance.
Rescue workers were trying to save a teenage boy who'd been partially ejected from one of the cars involved. She heard them talking over the boy whose face she couldn't see. She heard them say he had a type of head injury that would surely be fatal."I knew we wouldn't transport him," she said.
That's when she saw the shoes.
"I recognized his shoes," Hanig said. "I knew they were my 17-year-old (son's) shoes."
Nik Hanig died in that accident a year ago this month. He wasn't wearing a seat belt, which his mother is convinced would have saved him.
"I'm positive that if he'd been wearing a seat belt, he'd be here today. Probably uninjured," she said at a luncheon in Taylorsville that kicked-off a weeklong effort by law enforcement to raise awareness about seat belt and air bag safety.
Since her son's death, she talks to anyone who'll listen about the dangers of driving without a seat belt. She said it's devastating to know her son didn't have to die.
"It's bad enough that you can't control some events and death hap-pens," Hanig said. "But this was preventable. It doesn't have to happen."
In what is the largest mobilization of law enforcement agencies (4,000) across the country for a single cause, police officers hope to convince drivers and passengers that wearing a seat belt is essential.
Many of the activities planned around the state are geared at educating people to the lifesaving potential of wearing a seat belt.
"We're tired of picking up the broken bodies," said Craig Allred, the director of the Department of Public Safety's Highway Safety Office. "The reasons for not belting up just don't make it."
For example, he said, last year in Utah 60 people were killed in homicides. That is a decrease of about 10 percent from the previous year, he said.
But 363 people were killed in traffic accidents last year, he said. That's a 12 percent increase.
"Six times as many people are getting killed on our highways," he said. "We want to drive home how important (seat belts) are."
In addition to hosting safety fairs at various locations, officers will step up enforcement efforts.
"Every time (officers see a violator) they'll take action," said UHP Capt. George Chino. The fine is $75 for failing to put a child (under age 10) in a seat belt or safety seat and $10 for not buckling up yourself.
To those who believe it's their right not to wear a seat belt, Hanig has a simple response.
"It's not your choice," she said. "You are talking about a public health issue. Your actions affect lots of other people besides yourself. It's your responsibility to be in control of your vehicle at all times. You can't be in control of your vehicle if you're not in a seat belt."