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Click It or Ticket: Enforcing the law
to save lives; Bonners Ferry PD joins in
effort |
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May 19, 2015 |
By Chief Vic Watson
Bonners Ferry Police Department
If there is one thing I could urge all
motorists—drivers, passengers, front seat, back
seat, all ages—to do every time you get in a
vehicle, it’s buckle up. It is the single most
effective way to avoid being killed in a crash.
Would you ever ride a roller coaster without the
harness down? Would you ever skydive without a
parachute? When you ride in a motor vehicle
without a seat belt, you are taking a huge risk.
One you can’t afford. According to the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2013,
there were 9,580 unbelted vehicle occupants
killed in crashes on our nation’s roads.
This May 18 to 31 Bonners Ferry Police
Department is joining NHTSA and law enforcement
agencies nationwide for the 2015 Click It or
Ticket enforcement mobilization. We will be out
in full force, cracking down on seat belt
violations, issuing citations to anyone caught
traveling without a buckled seat belt or
transporting unrestrained children. We are
determined to get the message across: Seat belts
save lives. In fact, from 2008 to 2012, they
saved nearly 63,000 lives. And in 2012, an
additional 3,031 lives could have been saved if
all unrestrained occupants involved in fatal
crashes had worn their seat belts.
We’ve found in the past that May is a very
effective time to ramp up seat belt enforcement
efforts. Many motorists travel over Memorial Day
weekend, which kicks off the busy summer travel
season. It’s the perfect time to remind everyone
why seat belt use is required by law. And we
want people to know: we’re not cracking down to
write tickets. We’re doing it to save lives.
In addition to increased patrols and
zero-tolerance enforcement, we really want to
get the right information out to motorists.
There are too many false notions out there about
seat belts. Young adults in particular seem to
think they are invincible in vehicles.
Unfortunately, those young adults are dying at a
disproportionate rate because they are not
wearing their seat belts. Almost twice as many
men are dying in vehicle crashes compared to
women, and wearing their seat belts less than
women. Pickup truck occupants think that they
don’t need to wear their seat belts because they
believe their large vehicles will protect them
in a crash. The numbers from NHTSA tell the
truth: 63 percent of pickup truck occupants who
were killed in crashes were not buckled up.
That’s compared to 43 percent of passenger car
occupants who were killed while not wearing
their seat belts.
During the Click It or Ticket enforcement
period, an important part of our safety
messaging to motorists includes the words “day
and night” – and for good reason. In 2013, about
59 percent of passenger vehicle occupants were
killed during the nighttime hours of 6 p.m. to
5:59 a.m. who were not wearing their seat belts.
More people are being killed in nighttime
crashes than ever before, and we are going to be
targeting nighttime seat belt violators as a
result.
Next time you head out on the road, make sure
you and everyone in your vehicle are buckled up.
Don’t just do it to avoid a ticket, do it so you
arrive at your destination safely. Since it’s
our job to help protect Bonners Ferry motorists,
we’re taking Click It or Ticket seriously. We’re
hoping you’ll get the message and buckle up
every trip, every time, even after the crackdown
period is over. Wearing your seat belt is
required by law 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
So please remember, day and night, Click It or
Ticket. You can find out more about the Click It
or Ticket mobilization at
www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.
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