|
Seat belt crackdown targets Americans driving unbuckled
The national safety belt use rate is the highest it has ever been at 79 percent, but that still leaves nearly 60 million Americans, who are disproportionately teens and young adults, risking their lives and driving unbuckled, according to police officials. This November, law enforcement officials are participating in the Click It or Ticket project. "If you won't buckle up to save your life, then buckle up to save yourself a ticket," Brockport Police Department suggests as they join more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies in a nationwide crack down on seat belt violators. The two-week enforcement wave, which runs from November 17-30, is based on a proven public health model to increase belt use called "high visibility enforcement," according to officials. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 5,341 teens, ages 16-20, died and hundreds of thousands more were injured in traffic crashes in 2001. In New York state in 1997, 146 people between the ages of 16 and 24, who were not wearing their seatbelt, died as a result of motor vehicle crashes. Fatality rates for teens are twice that of older drivers and the risk of crashes for teens is four times that of older drivers. Two out of five deaths among teens are the result of a traffic crash. During the national Click It or Ticket Mobilization, officers will intensify enforcement of child passenger safety laws, seat belt laws and impaired driving laws by setting up saturation patrols and checkpoints. Drivers failing to restrain themselves and their child passengers will be ticketed according to the law. The New York State seat belt law now requires:
|