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FARGO (KFGO) – A teenager from Mapleton was awarded for wearing a seatbelt and taking evasive action during a crash in April.
On April 19, then-16-year-old Gabriella Vickerman was driving home around 10:30 p.m. when she saw a truck crossing into her lane on Highway 18 south of Arthur, N.D. She swerved to the right, and was able to avoid a head-on crash.
Since she was wearing a seatbelt, North Dakota Highway Patrol Captain Bryan Niewind says Vickerman was able to walk away from a serious crash without injuries.
“Having that seat belt on, not being distracted, caused her to be able to go home that day with her parents, not go to the hospital not have an ambulance ride, all those things that maybe come with that,” Niewind said. “But being able to walk away from that crash and go home with your parents and sleep in your own bed that night? That’s an amazing thing.”
Vickerman said she just did what she always does.
“It’s just something that I always did,” she said. “It’s just, I never thought I just thought it was useless not to.”
Vickerman was giving the Saved by the Belt Award by the Highway Patrol and North Dakota Safety Council on her 17th birthday. The award recognizes her decision to buckle up, a decision that Niewind says likely saved her life.
“We want to make sure we recognize that because you really are a role model for other people,” Niewind told her. “You’re a role model wearing that seatbelt showing what doing the right thing can do is really important. So, being a role model, parents, your friends. Everyone that knows who your role model and you’re affect the lives of other people as well. Maybe don’t know you. So just understand that you are a role model for all those people.”
Vikerman was also presented a Challenge Coin by the Highway Patrol.
The driver of the pickup, 34-year-old Stephen Boyer from Arthur, was arrested for DUI after the crash. He plead guilty on May 16.
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