Holidays putting extra attention on seat belt use
Published 6:00 am Monday, November 20, 2000
Although holidays are meant to be a time of cheer andcelebration, they are often marred with tragic deaths as a resultof improper seat belt use in motor vehicles.
Local law enforcement officials are hoping to cut down on suchtragedies by placing more emphasis on seat belt safety during theupcoming holiday season.
“We’ll be more observant, and we’ll have some road blocks set upover the holidays,” said Lincoln County Sheriff Lynn Boyte.
The Mississippi Division of Public Safety Planning isencouraging all law enforcement officers to have zero tolerance inthe area of seat belt violations, especially for unbuckled orimproperly buckled children, in order to save lives over theholidays.
“As a former law enforcement officer. . . I’ve seen the mangledbodies of children who were not buckled when a crash occurred,”said Dr. Billy White Jr., executive director of MDPSP. “In manyinstances, their lives could have been saved by safety devices suchas child safety seats.”
Holidays are often associated with travel, leading to morevehicle on the roadways, usually resulting in an increase of motorvehicle accidents.
During the holidays, law enforcement officers will issuecitations for any seat belt violations in an effort to get themessage across that seat belts do save lives. This includes strictenforcement of Mississippi’s law requiring all children under eightyears of age to be buckled into age-appropriate safety devices.
“Statistics show that seat belts are very important, and it’s aproven fact that seat belts save lives, so we’ll be doing our partto enforce seat belt laws,” said Brookhaven Police Chief FredMcKee.
Citations for seat belt violations can be issued during trafficstops as well as through road blocks and seat belt check points,which have already been planned for the holiday season.
Most law enforcement officers have seen countless injuries anddeaths that could have been prevented with the use of a seat beltor child safety seat, so they know the importance of encouragingpeople to buckle up.
“People don’t realize how vulnerable they are in an accidentwhen they aren’t buckled up,” said Boyte.
Seat belts are valuable because they hold a person in a stableposition, whereas they could be thrown around in a vehicle orejected from a vehicle during a collision.
Law enforcement officials pointed out that more parents shouldtake the responsibility of buckling up children and setting anexample by buckling up.
“If something does happen, the chance for survival is muchgreater with a seat belt,” added Boyte.
When used correctly, safety devices can prevent 70 percent ofdeaths and serious injuries, according to statistics fromMDPSP.
The general public can play an active role in saving lives bynot only buckling up, but also by reporting any seat beltviolations they witness. Seat belt violations can be reported tolocal law enforcement agencies or by calling 1-800-9-BUCKLE.