Memorial Day
BE Seat Belt SAFE
CHP Officer Juan Quintero
assists parent with proper installation
of child car seat at a
MOMS & DADS Clinic. Photo courtesy of Big
Bear Lake NewsRoom
May 22, 2018
__
California
Highway Patrol, Sacramento, California
As the unofficial start of Summer, Memorial Day
weekend is a busy time on California roadways. To help segue into summer
safely, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) will conduct a Maximum Enforcement
Period (MEP).
Seat belt usage is the focus of the Memorial Day
MEP, which will run from 6:00 P.M., Friday, May 25th, to midnight
Monday, May 28. During the MEP, CHP officers will educate motorists and enforce
traffic safety laws throughout the state to ensure a safe holiday. Officers
will also be watching carefully for distracted drivers and those who are
impaired by drugs or alcohol.
“It only takes two seconds to buckle up,” said CHP Commissioner
Warren Stanley. “Wearing a seat belt is such a simple task to keep you
and your passengers safe. Remember, it is also the law.”
Approximately 70 percent of the
vehicle occupants who died in CHP jurisdiction in the 2016 and 2017 Memorial
Day MEPs were not wearing seat belts. A total of 45 people died statewide in
Memorial Day MEP collisions in 2017; 39 during the period in 2016. During those
same MEPs, there were 921 arrests in California for driving under the influence
in 2017 and 1,065 in 2016.
Motorists are also reminded to protect child
passengers by placing them in age-appropriate restraint devices, whether a
safety seat or booster seat. The law requires that children under age eight
ride in the back seat and that a child under age two is secured in a
rear-facing child passenger safety seat.
In addition to the MEP, the CHP will take part
in the nationwide Click It or Ticket campaign led by the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that will emphasize seat belt use
from May 21-June 3. On a national level, nearly half the passenger vehicle
occupants killed in collisions in 2016 were not wearing seat belts, NHTSA
reports.
In the interest of motorist education,
Commissioner Stanley also reminds everyone of the dangers of distracted and
impaired driving. “Too many lives are lost every year
due to preventable acts,” he said. “Law enforcement
personnel see the tragic consequences too frequently of not buckling up or of
driving impaired or distracted. These are all avoidable.”
The mission of the California Highway Patrol is
to provide the highest level of Safety, Service, and
Security.