Startup of the Week: Ensuring people’s safety on the road in a trendy way

• The MoI has set a target to reduce road-related fatalities to eight per 100,000 as part of the government’s Vision 2030 program

JEDDAH: Drivers usually consider themselves safe on roads as long as they are following regulations concerning their style of driving, speed limits and laws regarding turns and red lights.
Truth be told they are not safe as long as they do not follow one simple rule i.e. wearing safety belts. According to experts, wearing a seat belt is the most effective way to prevent death and serious injury in a crash.
Malak Khayat, the Saudi founder of Belt.on, came up with an interesting idea to promote the use of seat belts and raise awareness about the importance of wearing seat belts while driving.
It offers customized leather belt cases that can be placed on seat belts.
Khayat also came up with a catchy slogan “Buckle up, someone loves you!” to prod people to think for their loved ones before putting their lives in harm’s way.
“It is a safe and trendy accessory that would hopefully encourage passengers to keep on their seatbelts,” Khayat told Arab News.
The idea came to her mind a year ago, when she witnessed a terrible road accident, in which the front seat passenger ejected through the car’s windscreen.
“It cost him his life. What if the passenger was buckled? His chances of survival would have increased, and it could even have saved his life.
“We hear such sad stories and witness heartbreaking road accidents. Law enforces the use of seat belts and a lot of awareness programs around the world emphasize the importance of wearing them. I wanted to promote their use, but in a trendy way, so that is how Belt.on started.”
At a presentation to the 2019 Traffic Safety Conference held in Riyadh in March, the Ministry of the Interior (MoI) revealed the number of deaths in the Kingdom had dropped from over 7,000 in 2017 to 6,025 in 2018, with traffic-related injuries down almost 10 percent to around 30,000.
The MoI has set a target to reduce road-related fatalities to eight per 100,000 as part of the government’s Vision 2030 program. Wearing seat belts is essential to hitting that target.
Belt.on’s embroidery can be made to almost any specification, with messages sewn in any language — recently the company even had an order for one in Armenian. They can also add logos or specific shapes, and there is almost no limit to the colors on offer.
“Safety is my No.1 concern, therefore, I aim to keep my customers safe yet trendy. Belt.on aims to raise awareness on safety as it encourages people to put on their seat belts in a cool way,” Khayat said.
Customers can place their orders via WhatsApp, or contact and keep up to date with Belt.On through Instagram (@belt.on).