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Response from Kentucky
State Police
Following is
the response I received from the Kentucky State Police to my letter in
opposition to the “Click It or Ticket” program, in which drivers were
stopped by police to see whether they were wearing their seatbelts.
I would suggest that, if the real goal were education, the state
could have sponsored an advertising campaign without stopping and
ticketing drivers. Furthermore,
if failure to wear seatbelts actually significantly increased the costs to
insurance companies, as stated in the letter, I would expect our auto
insurance carriers to be very concerned about seatbelts and to provide
different insurance rates based on whether we wear our seatbelts just as
they now provide different rates to smokers and non-smokers in many cases.
That would suit me just fine, since I always wear my seatbelt.
In any case, what risks insurance companies are willing to take
should not be of any concern to the state police and certainly should not
cause them to arrest drivers.
It is also
interesting that the police point out that driving is a privilege, not a
right. Does this arise from
the fact that the state builds the roads and therefore controls who can
drive on them?
Please refer
to the June 18 article in http://www.JeffersonReview.com
“Have You Noticed How One Government Intrusion Begets
Another?”, which echoes my sentiments concerning the Click-It or Ticket
program.
Guillermo
Camoriano
June 13,
2001
Dear Mr. Camoriano:
On behalf of the men and women of the Kentucky State Police, I
appreciate your letter of concern regarding the Click
It or Ticket campaign.
On May 8, 2001, the Kentucky
State Police and law enforcement throughout the Commonwealth announced its
participation in the Southeast regional Click
It or Ticket campaign. I
would like to take this opportunity to clarify the purpose and goals of
the campaign. Click
It or Ticket is a two-week (May 21 – June 3), high visibility,
massive enforcement effort designed to detect violators of traffic laws
with special emphasis on occupant protection.
Click It or Ticket is a
partnership between law enforcement, the National Safety Council, the Air
Bag & Seat Belt Campaign and the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. Other states
participating include: Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and
Tennessee.
Law Enforcement agencies in Kentucky are participating in Click It or Ticket because it saves lives.
Increasing seat belt usage is the most effective short-term way to
significantly reduce deaths and injuries from traffic crashes.
Our focus is two-fold; education
and enforcement. Leading up
to and through Memorial Day, our educational efforts are being delivered
through an aggressive media campaign and materials presented to motorists
by officers across the Commonwealth.
Officers will be strictly enforcing the secondary seat belt law
that has been in effect in Kentucky since 1994.
During the enforcement blitz, drivers who are stopped for another
offense or stopped at a traffic safety checkpoint for another offense,
will be issued a citation if they are not buckled up.
This action is within the statute of the secondary law and it will
be strictly enforced.
Some believe that seat belt
laws infringe upon “individual rights,” when in fact, it is important
to remember that driving is not a “right” but a privilege granted and
controlled by the Commonwealth. Opponents
of seat belt laws often claim that no one else will be hurt if they do not
use seat belts. This is not
true! Unrestrained drivers
have less opportunity to control their vehicles during traffic crashes and
kill or seriously injure themselves, their passengers or occupants of
other vehicles. These deaths
and serious injuries result in increased costs to all citizens of the
Commonwealth.
When someone is injured or
dies in a traffic crash, society pays many of the costs including
emergency services, uninsured medical care, tax supported rehabilitation
programs, higher insurance costs and survivor payments.
In fact, 85 percent of all medical costs for crash victims fall on
society, not on the individuals involved.
When crash victims are not buckled up, their costs for medical
treatment are 50 percent higher than those who wear seat belts.
Belted crash victims average 60 to 80 percent lower medical costs
than unbelted victims.
The goal of campaigns like Click
It or Ticket is not to issue traffic citations – the goal is to use
the real possibility of a citation to change behavior and save lives.
Last year, Kentucky traffic crashes were responsible for over 800
fatalities – 65% of those victims were unrestrained, which resulted in a
comprehensive cost of over $5 billion dollars.
The Memorial holiday weekend
was much safer for Kentucky motorists this year than last.
Nine fatal crashes resulted in eleven fatalities in 2000 compared
to eight fatal crashes and eight fatalities in 2001.
Of those eight fatalities, only one person was wearing a seat belt.
With these results, I feel this campaign has proven to be effective
and I commend the men and women of the Kentucky State Police and other law
enforcement agencies across the state for their exceptional efforts in
making our roadways safer.
Law enforcement is charged
with protecting citizens. There
is nothing that would improve traffic safety more than increasing seat
belt and child restraint usage in Kentucky.
We will continue to implement the Click
It or Ticket campaign throughout the Commonwealth because we are
committed to saving lives.
Respectfully,
Ishmon F. Burks
Commissioner
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