With Kansas Department of Transportation figures showing southeast Kansas seat belt and child passenger safety seat usage rates well below the state average, a campaign has started to help bring those numbers up.
Law enforcement officials in a 10-county area of southeast Kansas are participating in a campaign to step up enforcement of Kansas’ seat belt and child passenger safety laws.
The enforcement campaign is designed to promote a higher level of seat belt usage and compliance with seat belt laws in rural areas of the state. Counties included in the campaign are: Allen, Bourbon, Cherokee, Cowley, Crawford, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson and Woodson counties.
“We as local law enforcement officials support the effort,” said Labette County Sheriff William Blundell. “Simply put, we are enforcing the laws of Kansas.”
Blundell said that nationwide statistics show that seat belts are 47 percent effective in reducing fatalities and law enforcement officials are “deeply concerned” about the safety of citizens.
“They have asked us to record and report the number of tickets that have been written during the same time of their survey,” Crawford County Sheriff Sandy Horton said. “The deputies have a sheet showing what enforcement action was taken during their shift.”
The enforcement does include other traffic infractions as well as seat belt usage.
In Crawford County, Horton, in 2008, launched the Seatbelts Are For Everyone (SAFE) campaign aimed at improving seat belt usage among area high school students.
From the first year to 2009, the program helped contribute to an average 16 percent increase statewide in seat belt usage in that demographic, meaning that 306 more high school students now regularly wear a seat belt.
The usage among high school students has steadily increased over the last few years, but Crawford County still rates very low in the state.
“But it is going up, and I’d like to think our program has contributed to that increase,” Horton said.
Horton said that surveys this year are showing nearly 70 percent of students are using a seat belt.
“Compared to last year where we had some schools that started near 50 percent, we are seeing a big jump and we are very happy about that,” Horton said.
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140
