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Law enforcement statewide launch 'Click It or Ticket' campaign Wednesday, May 14, 2008 By Jason Wiest Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas law enforcement officials on Tuesday launched a two-week 'Click It or Ticket' campaign to crack down on drivers who don't wear safety belts. For the second year in a row, the campaign will focus specifically on night-time drivers. Statistics show that 82 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes that occurred between the hours of 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m. in 2006 were not wearing safety belts, according to State Police Director Col. Winford Phillips. The proportion of deaths among motor vehicle occupants who were not wearing safety belts is 24 percentage points higher in nighttime crashes than daytime crashes, Phillips said. According to state law, drivers who are stopped by law enforcement officers for a moving or equipment violation can also be ticketed if the officer observes a safety belt violation. In conjunction with increased enforcement, this year's national campaign will invest $7.5 million in advertising nationwide to educate drivers. Commercials will air on Wal-Mart monitors and stickers will be attached to to-go orders at fast food chains, among other things. Similar campaigns in the past have increased safety belt use in Arkansas, from 52 percent in 2000 to almost 70 percent in 2007, according to Brian McLaughlin, senior associate administrator of traffic injury control for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "Unfortunately, even with the outstanding efforts to date of ... law enforcement and the Highway Safety Office, the state still lags about 12 percentage points behind the national average," McLaughlin said. The administration estimates that Arkansas could save as many as 50 more lives per year if the state were to pass a primary safety belt law, which gives officers the authority to stop a vehicle solely for a safety belt violation, McLaughlin said. "I'm sure the $9.5 million in incentive funds that would come to Arkansas because of a new law would certainly help in these tight fiscal times," he said. The Legislature has failed to pass primary safety belt legislation in the past despite the enticement of incentive funds. |
