FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, May 19, 2006

Increased Enforcement of Safety Belt Laws Begins May 22

Amarillo - Thanks to four straight years of Click It of Ticket campaigns, nearly 90 percent of Texas drivers and passengers now routinely buckle up. Local officials have a message for the one of every ten Texans who still hasn’t gotten into the habit of using safety belts: buckle up or pay up.

The Amarillo Police Department, Pampa Police Department, and the Randall County Sheriff’s Department, are teaming up with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and thousands of law enforcement personnel statewide to boost safety belt use in Texas. This year’s stepped up enforcement campaign begins Monday, May 22, and extends through Sunday, June 4, including the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend.

State troopers, police officers and sheriff’s deputies wrote 52,404 safety belt and child safety citations, an average of 2,096 per day, during last year’s campaign.

"We’d rather write a ticket than see someone killed or seriously injured in a traffic crash," said Randall County Sheriff Joel Richardson. "Sometimes it takes a citation to get people to pay attention to the law."

According to the National Safety Council, people who wear safety belts have a 45 percent better chance of surviving a serious traffic crash and a 50 percent better chance of surviving the crash without serious injuries.

Researchers report that six out of every ten children in Texas between five and nine years old still ride in vehicles without the protection of safety belts. Teen drivers use belts only half as frequently as adults.  Pickup truck drivers and their passengers also are less likely to use safety belts than other motorists.

State law requires drivers, front seat passengers and children under 17, whether riding in the front or back seat, to be buckled up. Child safety seats must be used for children under the age of five and less than 36 inches tall.

Adults who don’t use safety belts or fail to secure their children face fines from $25 to $200 plus court costs.

For Click It or Ticket campaign details, visit www.buckleuptexas.com.

For more information, call Paul Braun, 806/356-3256, or 806/570-6301.