Seat Belt Safety
Boise, Feb 24, 2012 - Boise
Police recently completed a special two-week education and
enforcement campaign focusing on the safety of wearing seat belts.
The effort was in cooperation with the Idaho Department of
Transportation's "Can't Imagine Life Without You" seat belt safety
campaign.
Recent Boise Police surveys show 88 - 90% of
motorists in Boise City wear their seat belts.
However, in the past two-weeks, officers
on special traffic patrols focusing on seat belt enforcement wrote
2,028 citations for failing to buckle up. The citation carries a
$10 fine.
Enforcement:During the recent campaign,
as with every day traffic stops, failure to wear a seat belt is not
a primary offense in Idaho, per Idaho State Code 49-673. Officers
wrote the 2,000+ citations when they made traffic stops on
motorists who were first suspected of another traffic violation
like speeding or running a red light or stop sign. However, while
the extra seat belt patrols were on the streets, officers also
located one DUI driver and made 3 drug related arrests in addition
to a large variety of additional traffic violations.
Seat Belt use in Idaho: According to the Idaho
Transportation Department's Office of Highway Safety, Idaho
continues to have a large percentage of fatal and serious injury
crashes involving drivers or passengers who are not restrained in a
seat belt.
Between 2008 and 2010, there were 427
fatal crashes and 2,459 serious injury crashes where a motor
vehicle occupant was killed or seriously injured: resulting in 488
fatalities and 3,302 serious injured. Of the 488 occupant
fatalities, 266 or 55% were unrestrained. Of the 3,302 serious
injuries, 994 or 30% were unrestrained. The unrestrained occupants
represent 40% of all of the people killed and 23% of all of the
people seriously injured in traffic crashes from 2008-2010.
The focused campaign may have ended, but Boise Police are on the
streetsevery daylooking for traffic violations, including failure
to wear seat belts. Buckle Up for those you love!