MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni drivers are about to be bombarded with a simple message: "Click it or ticket; If you won't buckle up to save your life, then buckle up to save yourself a ticket."
The military police here will join more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States in a crackdown on seat belt violators. The two-week enforcement wave, which will begin Monday and will run until Nov. 30, is based on a proven public health model to increase belt use called "high visibility enforcement."
"Enforcement gets people to buckle up. Seat belt use in states that conduct high visibility enforcement is 10 to 15 percentage points higher than in states that simply conduct public education," said Sgt. Ryan M. Wilkinson, Provost Marshal's Office accident investigation chief.
"Some people say it is a nuisance or they find some other excuse not to wear them, but the fact is that seat belts save lives," said Patrick Brown, Station safety program administrator. "The chances of you getting severely injured or killed are far greater when seat belts are not used."
Short trips and low speeds are no excuse to forego the required safety equipment, according to Brown. An accident at any speed can cause injury to an unrestrained driver. Brown also warns that air bags are not an alternative to seat belts. Air bags are only effective when combined with the proper wear of seat belts.
The national safety belt use rate is the highest it has ever been at 79 percent, Wilkinson said, but that still leaves nearly 60 million Americans, who are disproportionately teens and young adults, risking their lives and driving unbuckled.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 5,341 teens, ages 16-20, died and hundreds of thousands more were injured in traffic crashes in 2001. Fatality rates for teens are twice that of older drivers and the risk of crashes for teens is four times that of older drivers. Two out to five deaths among teens are the result of a traffic crash.
During the program, the military policemen will sharply intensify enforcement of seat belt and child passenger safety laws. "During this crackdown, we will conduct checkpoints and saturation patrols and ticket drivers who violate these traffic safety laws," Wilkinson said.
The penalty for not wearing a seat belt is a maximum deduction of three points from an individual's driving record, according to Wilkinson.