Ridgefield police will ramp up seat belt enforcement starting Monday in part of the two-week, national “Click it or ticket” campaign.
The campaign will be going on “around the clock.”
Seat belts saved an estimated 12,713 lives in 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The state Department of Transportation Web site reports, “seat belts when used properly reduce the number of serious traffic injuries by 50% and fatalities by 60-70%.”
Seat belt use has increased from 58% in 1994 to a high of 85% in 2010, but actually decreased from 2010 to 2011.
The Northeast and the South report the lowest seat belt use — 80% in 2011 — nationwide, while the Midwest reports 83% use, and the West 93% compliance, down from around 95%.
Here in Ridgefield rates are above the regional average for seat belt compliance. The most recent survey of compliance showed 88% of drivers on Ridgefield roads were wearing seat belts.
In an August fatal crash on Farmingville Road, the driver who died was not wearing a seat belt, rescue workers reported.
rdg-oldtimer
December 1, 2012
OMG! The entitled are going to be VERY un-happy!