Big Island drivers should prepare to buckle up as the Click it or Ticket national campaign kicks off Monday in Hawaii County.
Big Island drivers should prepare to buckle up as the Click it or Ticket national campaign kicks off Monday in Hawaii County.
Throughout the month, stepped-up law enforcement activities will occur, including increased check points and citations.
All 50 states and Hawaii’s four county police departments will be participating in the safety-awareness week. Each department received funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for its participation.
The state Department of Transportation said the Hawaii County Police Department received $78,480 for the program. The money goes toward law enforcement overtime and covers media costs.
Sgt. Robert Pauole, with the Hawaii County Police Traffic Services Section, said the campaign is a reminder to Hawaii Island drivers to be safe and responsible.
“All of it is a way to get the message out that it is important to wear a seat belt,” he said.
Pauole also stressed that seat belts save lives and recalled an incident where a car passenger died during a crash because he wasn’t wearing his seat belt while the other passenger, who was wearing a seat belt, lived.
“I asked the front seat passenger why he was wearing his seat belt and he said, ‘I can’t afford the $92,’” Pauole said.
HDOT Director Ford Fuchigami was also quoted in a recent release saying, “We’ve heard too many stories about senseless deaths that were the result of motor vehicle occupants being ejected from their vehicles. The majority of those deaths could have been avoided if motor vehicle occupants simply remembered to wear their seat belts and restrain children in child safety seats.”
According to a recent report, police issued 11,854 citations last year to Hawaii drivers for failing to use a seat belt. In addition, 1,573 drivers were issued citations for failure to secure a child younger than 8 years old in their vehicles. In June 2014, Hawaii had a seat belt usage rate of 94 percent, the same as the previous year.
And according to information from the Hawaii County Police, one Big Island driver died last year on a public roadway from not wearing his or her seat belt.
According to HDOT, Hawaii’s universal seat belt law requires that all front and back seat vehicle occupants buckle up. Adults and children are required to use their seat belts and child restraints at all times. The fine for unrestrained occupants on Oahu, Hawaii and Maui is $102, and the fine on Kauai is $112.
Hawaii’s Child Passenger Restraint Law requires children younger than 4 years old to ride in a child safety seat. Children 4 through 7 years old must ride in a child passenger restraint or booster seat. Violators are required to appear in court and, if convicted, will have to attend a four-hour class and may face a penalty of $100 to $500.
The Click it or Ticket campaign started in Hawaii during the early 2000.
Seat Belt/Child Restraint Facts
In 2012, seat belts saved an estimated 12,174 people from dying nationally. From 2008 through 2012, seat belts saved nearly 63,000 lives.
If all passenger vehicle occupants 5 years old and older involved in fatal crashes had worn their seat belts, an additional 3,031 lives could have been saved in 2012 alone.
In 2013, nearly half of the motor vehicle occupants who died in crashes were unrestrained.
Among adults 18 to 34 years old killed in crashes, 61 percent were completely unrestrained – the highest percentage of all age groups.
In 2013, there were 638 children 12 and younger killed in motor vehicle crashes. Of those fatalities, more than one third were unrestrained.
Men make up the majority of those killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes. In 2013, about 65 percent of the 21,132 passenger vehicle occupants killed were men. Men wear their seat belts at a lower rate than women do – 54 percent of men in fatal crashes were unrestrained, compared to 41 percent for women.
Child passenger restraints can reduce deaths by as much as 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers.
The American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents and caregivers to keep their toddlers in rear-facing child safety seats until they’re two or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat. It also advises that most children need to ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they have reached 4 feet, 9 inches tall and are between eight and 12 years of age.
* Information from Hawaii Department of Transportation