Despite what the public might think, it is not a goal of officers of the Kaua‘i Police Department to issue as many tickets as possible for seat-belt violations during the Click it or Ticket campaigns. The idea is safety, and
Despite what the public might think, it is not a goal of officers of the Kaua‘i Police Department to issue as many tickets as possible for seat-belt violations during the Click it or Ticket campaigns.
The idea is safety, and to encourage voluntary compliance with a law that, simply and when abided by, saves lives, said Lt. Scott Yagihara, head of the KPD Traffic Safety Unit.
Failure to buckle up can be a deadly habit, as Yagihara and others have seen on Kaua‘i this year, when some of the six recorded traffic fatalities so far in 2004 involved people being ejected from vehicles, likely because they weren’t strapped in with seat belts.
“My goal is to get people to voluntarily comply, and that goes for everybody in this department. Our goal is not to issue citations,” said Yagihara, adding that advertising, passing out of flyers, and even use of the state Department of Transportation Highways Division’s roadway sign encouraging people to buckle up helped in the recently completed campaign.
Unrestrained drivers and passengers in front seats end up going through the windshield in head-on or frontal-impact crashes, he said.
Nearly 60 percent of all unbelted occupants are ejected from vehicles during crashes, and 73 percent of ejected occupants are killed, according to national statistics.
Nationally, traffic crashes have killed over 3 million Americans, more than all U.S. combat deaths. The number of traffic deaths also surpasses by far the number of homicide deaths nationally, in the state, and on Kaua‘i, “and that’s alarming as well,” Yagihara added.
Also nationally, 42,000 people die each year in car crashes, with injuries sustained by 3.4 million others. Every 13 minutes in the United States, someone dies in a car crash.
Car crashes are the leading cause of death for persons between the ages of 6 and 27. However, child restraints have saved over 4,000 children’s lives in the last 25 years.
Yagihara knows that seat-belt usage helps save lives during accidents, and even his voice-mail message reminds people not to drink and drive, and to always buckle up.
So, while some may bemoan getting stopped and given tickets for not wearing seat belts during the recently completed Click it or Ticket campaign, Yagihara is sure the campaign encouraged more Kauaians and visitors to buckle up, which is the goal.
“Enforcement alone will not gain compliance. It’s a variety of factors,” including education, he said.
And despite some officers’ apparent eagerness to issue seat-belt citations (which carry $77 fines), it is not the goal of KPD officers to issue citations, Yagihara continued.
Over 200 seat-belt violations were logged during the recent Click It or Ticket campaign, held over a 14-day period that covered both Memorial Day weekend and the public-school graduations, according to Yagihara.
The 200 citations represents more than the monthly average of around 184 issued by KPD officers during the first five months of this year (please see the chart).
Paul C. Curtis, associate editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@pulitzer.net.
