Buckle up: Officers stepping up seat belt enforcement
By JODIE GARCIA, Herald Staff Writer
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Not wearing a seat belt or not strapping in a child could be the recipe for a ticket.
Area drivers can expect to see heightened traffic enforcement beginning today as the Ottawa Police Department and Franklin County Sheriff’s Office join departments across the state in the Kansas Click It or Ticket enforcement campaign through June 1. It includes enforcement during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
The campaign, which includes 130 law enforcement agencies, is supported by a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation. The goal is to significantly reduce the number of preventable deaths and injuries occurring when unbelted drivers and passengers are in crashes, a news release said.
“Everyone knows there are both a seat belt law and a law directing that children should be properly restrained, and fatal crash statistics illustrate that it is a smart thing to do,” Ottawa Police Chief Dennis Butler said in the release.
“But too many drivers play the odds: ‘It hasn’t happened yet, so why this time… especially on this road…. And, besides, we’re not going far.’ However, it does happen – too often.”
According to KDOT statistics, 414 people died as a result of traffic crashes last year and of those, 70 percent of the people were not belted in, the release said.
Kansas is ranked 44th in the U.S. for seat belt compliance, the release said, with only 75 percent of front seat passengers buckling up. The national average is 82 percent.
Seat belt compliance tends to be higher in more populous areas, the release said, with an average of 60 percent on rural county roads. Lower compliance is matched by a higher crash fatality rate, when, according to the release, drivers leave the road and collide with heavy objects or are ejected.
Kansas also ranks low for child restraint compliance — 68 percent — which suggests that some parents are buckling themselves in but leaving their children unrestrained, the release said.
During the Click It or Ticket campaign, drivers can look for strict enforcement of the Safety Belt Use and Child Passenger Safety Acts, which require all front seat passengers to be buckled in. Vehicles may be stopped if a person under 18 years old is observed unrestrained anywhere in the vehicle, the release said.
If a passenger under 14 years old is unrestrained, the driver will be cited. Drivers or passengers ages 14 to 17 who are unrestrained will be cited, the release said.
Children under 4 must be secured in a federally-approved child safety seat. Children ages 4 to 7 must be belted in an approved booster seat and 8- to 13-year-olds must be safety belted, the release said.
Visit the Ottawa Police Department, 715 W. Second St., during normal business hours or call the sheriff’s department at (785) 229-1200 for help in installing a child safety seat or to check an already installed seat.
The acts also prohibit those under 14 years old from riding in any part of a vehicle not meant for carrying passengers, such as a pickup bed.
“You cannot control the behavior of other drivers on the road who may be drunk or sleepy, or dialing a cell phone, changing radio stations, drinking a soda, checking makeup, disciplining kids in the back, or reacting to coffee spills,” Butler said. “Moreover, you cannot control roadway or mechanical problems that could cause you or others to suddenly veer into your lane of the road.
“Safety belts and child restraints are your best protection against the unexpected, including all forms of driver inattention, even your own.”
Herald staff writer Jodie Garcia can be e-mailed at jgarcia@ottawaherald.com.
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