Source: Don Stubbings, 785-532-6412, ksu135@k-state.edu
News tip: Manhattan
Monday, May 21, 2012
Time to buckle up: May 21-June 3 is Click It or Ticket time on campus
MANHATTAN -- Driving on the Kansas State University campus without your safety belt on? Don't be surprised if you get a ticket.
Beginning Monday, May 21, and continuing through Sunday, June 3, drivers can expect increased police presence on the campus as the university Police Department joins more than 150 other law enforcement agencies in aggressively enforcing the state occupant restraint and other traffic laws as part of the 2012 Kansas Click It or Ticket traffic enforcement campaign. This activity is supported by a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation.
"Expect strict enforcement of the Safety Belt Use and Child Passenger Safety Acts," said K-State Police Capt. Don Stubbings. "Briefly, these acts require that all occupants must be appropriately restrained. Occupants ages 14 and over are cited individually."
In the event that a passenger under the age of 14 is unrestrained, the driver will be cited. Children under the age of 4 must be secured in an approved child safety seat. Children ages 4-7 must be securely belted into an approved booster seat unless taller than 4 feet 9 inches or heavier than 80 pounds.
Stubbings said the aim of Click It or Ticket is simple: to drastically reduce the number of preventable deaths and injuries that occur when unbelted drivers and passengers are involved in traffic crashes.
According to the Kansas Department of Transportation's Traffic Safety section, more than two-thirds of those killed in crashes are not belted in. Just as striking is the fact that about 89 percent of crash survivors who suffer no injuries at all are belted in. In other words, an unrestrained occupant has only about an 11 percent chance of not being injured in a crash -- and all for simply not taking two seconds to buckle up.
"Everyone knows there are seat belt laws and that seat belts and child safety seats save lives and reduce injury," said K-State Police Chief Ronnie Grice. "We value every member of our K-State and Manhattan community and are proud to be able to participate in a statewide campaign to save lives."
