Liberal, KS

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Click It Or Ticket Enforcement To Begin

KSCB News - May 9, 2013 11:52 am

Beginning on Monday, May 20th, and continuing through Sunday, June 3rd, drivers can expect increased police presence on city streets as the Liberal Police Department joins over 150 other law enforcement agencies in aggressively enforcing Kansas occupant restraint and other traffic laws as part of the 2013 Kansas Click It or Ticket traffic enforcement campaign. This activity is supported by a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT).

Expect strict enforcement of the Safety Belt Use and Child Passenger Safety Acts. These acts require that all occupants be appropriately restrained while in a motor vehicle. Occupants, ages 14 and over who are in violation of this act will be cited. The driver will be cited for passengers under the age of 14 that are unrestrained. Children under the age of 4 must be secured in an approved child safety seat. Children, ages four through seven, must be securely belted into an approved booster seat, unless taller than 4’9” inches or heavier than 80 pounds. Children, ages eight through 13 must be properly restrained. In addition, the act prohibits persons under the age of 14 from riding in any part of a vehicle not intended for carrying passengers, such as a pickup bed.

The purpose of Click It or Ticket is simple: to drastically reduce the number of preventable deaths and injuries that occur when unrestrained occupants of a motor vehicle are involved in traffic crashes. According to KDOT’s Traffic Safety section, over two-thirds of those killed in crashes are not restrained. About 89 % of crash survivors who suffer no injuries at all are belted in. An unrestrained occupant has only about an 11% chance of not being injured in a crash.

According to Captain Jon Antrim, “Everyone knows there are seat belt laws and that seat belts and child safety seats save lives and reduce injury. However; too many drivers play the odds and don’t buckle up, or require their passengers to buckle up because a crash is unlikely. When a crash does happen – and it’s generally within five miles from home – the two seconds it takes to buckle up looks like a smart investment. We want drivers in the City of Liberal to remember that it’s not only about your driving skills. It’s also about the skills and habits of the drivers sharing the road with you. Disaster can strike the best driver anytime.”

“ When you don’t buckle up or require that your passengers buckle up, you’re making the decision for everyone in your vehicle that the drivers you meet are not going to be distracted by sleepiness, cell phone conversations, texting, changing radio stations, or kids fighting in the back seat. And you’re assuming, for everyone, that no animal, roadway or mechanical problem will cause you to suddenly brake or veer out of your lane. We want people to know that the Liberal Police Department is committed to aggressively ticketing violators of seat belt and child safety laws, and all other traffic infractions that make our streets and highways unsafe.”

 

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