Teenagers and young adults are going to be surrounded with the strong message, “Buckle up; If you won’t buckle up to save your life, then buckle up to save yourself a ticket,” as the Wichita Police Department joins more than 12,000 law enforcement agencies in a nationwide effort to modify the behavior of seat belt violators.
The two-week enforcement wave, which runs from May 19 through the Memorial Day holiday, will be supported by more than $20 million in state and national advertising. It is based on a proven public health model to increase belt use called “high visibility enforcement.”
“This year, approximately 8,000 Americans - adults and children - will die in crashes because they failed to buckle their seat belts. Last year in Wichita, 20 citizens died in fatal car crashes who were not wearing seat belt, said Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams. “Traffic fatalities, especially among teens and young adults, are an ongoing tragedy we must do something about and that is why we’ve joined this effort.”
Drivers failing to restrain themselves and their child passengers will be ticketed according to the law. Locally, the following Traffic Safety Enforcement activities will be conducted:
Patrol South: Officers from this Bureau will be focusing on the high accident location of Seneca and I-235, as well as the downtown exits. They will also be closely monitoring the many end of school activities, making sure students are driving safely and are buckled up.
Patrol West: This Bureau will focus its enforcement efforts on high accident locations on West Kellogg and West 21st Street, placing an extra emphasis on construction zones.
Patrol North: During the first week of America Buckles Up, Officers will focus on all aspects of traffic enforcement, especially adult and child restraint violations. The second week of the enforcement effort, they will focus on Driving Under the Influence and adult/child restraint violations.
Patrol East: Every day during the project, Officers will be patrolling East Kellogg and Rock Road watching for speeding in construction zones and occupant restraint compliance.
“We have seen improvements in the number of accident on Kellogg, between Hillside and Rock Road due to increased enforcement of speeding violations,” said Sergeant Allen Wolf, Patrol East. “The STEP grant overtime funds will help ensure that we can continue to address traffic concerns in this area during a very busy time for travel by the public.”
Sgt. Wolf went on to say, “Those motorist stopped for traffic violations should also anticipate getting an additional charge of not being restrained if they are not complying with our state’s seat belt lows. CLICK IT OR TICKET.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 5,341 teens, ages 16-20, died and thousands more were injured in traffic crashes in 2001. 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. In 2000, the estimated economic impact of police-reported crashes involving drivers between 15 and 20 years old was $32.8 billion.
High visibility enforcement relies on periods of intense enforcement of seat belt laws coupled with aggressive advertising and media outreach to let people know about the enforcement. For many non-seat belt users, and especially young people, the threat of a ticket has proven to be a greater inducement to buckle up than the threat of injury or death.
To help fund the personnel costs involved in the special traffic assignments, the Kansas Department of Transportation is providing funding via a Special Traffic Enforcement Program grant again this year.
For more information on area traffic safety enforcement, please contact Sgt. Jerry Quick at the Patrol West Bureau 941-0673, Sgt. Allen Wolf at the Patrol East Bureau 688-9331, Sgt. Rusty Leeds at the Patrol North Bureau 688-9500 or Sgt. Donnie Phelps at the Patrol South Bureau 337-9200.