Gilroy
– Motorists and passengers who don’t buckle up will be the
target of a California Highway Patrol safety campaign this Memorial
Day weekend.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Motorists and passengers who don’t buckle up will be the target of a California Highway Patrol safety campaign this Memorial Day weekend.
Additional officer will be on the road from 6pm Friday, May 25 through midnight Monday, May 30, to join the nation-wide “Click it or Ticket” seat belt enforcement campaign to reduce highway deaths during the holiday.
“Because we’ve seen first hand the severe injury and death that often results from not wearing a safety belt, we will be showing zero tolerance for anyone not buckled up,” said Capt. Bob Davies, commander of the CHP Hollister/Gilroy office. “Unless you want to risk a ticket – or worse, your life – remember to wear your seat belt.”
Thirty-seven people died statewide in vehicle crashes during the 2004 Memorial Day weekend, he said.
In 2003, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 44 percent of the 2,905 vehicle occupants killed in California were not wearing a safety belt.
Davies urged motorists to buckle up even if they are taking a short trip.
“Most safety belt violators aren’t scofflaws,” he said. “They’re dads making a last-minute grocer run or churchgoers that don’t want to rumple their Sunday clothes.”
Memorial Day weekend will be a maximum enforcement period for the CHP, and 80 percent of available officers will be on the road, ready to write tickets if motorists fail to buckle up. Violators face a fine of about $100, according to the California Vehicle Code.
The CHP says California’s safety belt compliance rate is among the highest in the country, with more than 90 percent of motorists choosing to buckle up.
“Even at this high compliance rate, hundreds of deaths could be prevented if motorists used their safety belts,” Davies said.
