Police buckling down on seatbelt violations

Drivers and passengers in Laguna Beach who don’t reflexively fasten

their seat belts would be wise to change their habits from Monday

through Nov. 30, when police officers will be working overtime to

cite the unbuckled.

The Laguna Beach Police Dept. received a $10,000 grant from the

California State Office of Traffic Safety as part of a statewide seat

belt enforcement campaign. Laguna is among 191 police departments

participating.

“Our officers will be aggressively looking for people who aren’t

buckled up, and we’re expecting to write a lot of tickets,” Traffic

Sgt. Jason Kravetz said. “You should be wearing your seat belt all

times for safety, but during these two weeks your wallets are also

more in danger.”

The office of traffic safety is hoping that seat belt compliance

rises from 91% to 94% as a result of the enforcement campaign, but

the Laguna Beach Police Dept. is shooting for 100% compliance, Kravetz said.

Last year in California, 1,268 unbelted people died in traffic

collisions, about 45% of whom could have survived had they remembered

to buckle up, according to state statistics.

Research suggests that the three most common excuses made by those

not wearing seat belts are “I forgot,” “I’m only taking a short trip”

and “Seat belts are uncomfortable.”

“None of those ever work,” Kravetz said.

-- Mike Swanson