TIPP CITY — The belts have been tallied and the winner of the 2023 Safe Communities Annual Seat Belt Challenge is Tippecanoe High School.

This was the second consecutive year Tippecanoe has taken the win, with a seat belt usage rate of 98.9%.

A special recognition also goes out to Upper Valley Career Center for having the most improved rate. They had a seat belt usage rate of nearly 94% this year, which was a 22.5% increase from 2022.

The Annual Seat Belt Challenge is a great community engagement opportunity with area high school teens. The friendly competition sheds light on an important safety issue for not only teen drivers, but everyone in the community. Wearing your seat belt drastically reduces the risk of being injured or worse if involved in a traffic crash.

Below are the schools and their percentages this year:

• Tipp City – 98.96%

• Bethel – 94.8%

• Troy Christian – 94.4%

• Newton – 94.4%

• Upper Valley Career Center – 93.95%

• Miami East – 93.1%

• Piqua – 90.1%

• Covington – 89.3%

• Milton Union – 88.5%

• Bradford – 78.7%

• Troy – 77.4%

Thank you to all the Miami County High Schools for participating in the Annual Seat Belt Challenge.