Seat belt crackdown starting to click with drivers
Clearwater officers notice more drivers are buckling up after police issue 1,000 citations, 140 for seat belt violations, in the past two weeks.
By CHRIS TISCH
Published May 31, 2003
[Times photo: Carrie Pratt]
Robert Wierzba, a DUI enforcement sergeant, stops a car going 27 in a 25 mph speed zone on Harn and Stewart boulevards in Clearwater. The driver also was not wearing a seat belt, a $46 ticket.
CLEARWATER - It doesn't pay to be a bad driver in Clearwater.
Over the past two weeks, officers have issued nearly 1,000 citations - more than 140 for seat belt violations - as part of a "Click It or Ticket" operation.
Officers say they've noticed an effect: Not only do more people seem to be buckled in, but those who aren't buckled are slipping their belts on when they see an officer.
"There seems to be a lot more people buckling up," said Lt. Steve Burch, commander of the department's traffic section.
The operation continues until Sunday. Each day officers have been picking spots in Clearwater to enforce traffic laws and seat belt usage. One day they were on Countryside Boulevard, another they were on Druid Road, another they were on Kings Highway.
"The whole idea is to reinforce that wearing seat belts is the law and saves lives," police spokesman Wayne Shelor said.
Though officers have paid special attention to seat belts the past two weeks as part of a statewide seat belt campaign, Burch said traffic officers have been enforcing the law all year - and will continue to do so after Sunday.
Seat belt usage is a secondary offense, which means officers cannot pull someone over simply for not wearing a belt. But it might as well be a primary offense because officers can usually find some reason to pull someone over, be it a speed slightly over the limit or a defect in an automobile.
"If someone is not wearing their seat belt, they will be pulled over and given a ticket," Burch said.
Failure to buckle a seat belt contributes to more fatalities than any other single traffic safety-related behavior, according to Buckle Up Florida, a statewide initiative to encourage people to snap their belts.
Seat belts are estimated to save 9,500 lives statewide each year. Yet only 59 percent of motorists routinely buckle up. If that figure were 90 percent, about 5,500 deaths and 132,000 injuries would be prevented nationwide each year.
