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Cops launch Memorial Day crackdown
‘Click It or Ticket’ campaign aimed at those who don’t wear their seat belts
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
Article published on Friday, May 25, 2007
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![[Image]](/content_images/052507_par-01.jpg) |
| Photo by THOMAS MICHALSKI |
| Larry Manochio, left, of the city’s fleet maintenance division, shows Sgt. Tracey Schofield of the special operations division, electronics installed in the police department’s new unmarked pickup truck. |
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PINELLAS PARK – City police on Memorial Day weekend will be out in full force, complete with their new unmarked undercover pickup truck, to nab motorists who drive without seat belts.
Sgt. Tracey Schofield, who heads the special operations division that includes traffic enforcement, said officers also will be looking for speeders, red-light runners and drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Schofield said the department’s latest tool, an unmarked pickup truck packed with the latest electronics equipment that is designed to blend into traffic, also will be on the road.
“We’ve only had it a few days,” Schofield said. “It will be a great asset in our mission to get motorists to slow down over the holiday weekend and at other times of the year.”
Lt. Paul Andrews, meanwhile, said Memorial Day weekend is one of the deadliest holidays for roadway travelers.
During the 2006 holiday 32 people were killed in traffic crashes in the state, according to preliminary data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
“Of those deaths,” Andrews said, “66 percent were not wearing seat belts at the time of crash.”
City officers are joining other agencies in the “Click It or Ticket Florida” initiative in an effort to increase safety belt usage. During the period of May 21 through June 3 officers will show zero tolerance for unrestrained motorists.
“With the support of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation we hope to make this a record-setting year for lives saved,” Andrews said.
“This campaign serves to protect all motorists on Florida’s roadways,” Andrews said. “The tickets will hopefully get people to consider the real costs of not wearing seat belts.”
Andrews said the “Click It or Ticket Florida” program is designed to raise awareness of buckling up.
“Memorial Day is deadlier than New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July, so it is an appropriate time for this heightened effort,” Andrews said.
The FDOT, Andrews said, reports that just 80 percent of drivers and passengers in the state are using safety belts. That leaves nearly 4 million Floridians unrestrained. Statistics show that drivers and passengers who do not buckle up are approximately 14 times more likely to die in a traffic crash than those who use their safety belt.
“Buckling up is the single most important thing one can do to prevent injury or death when involved in a crash,” Andrews said. “The numbers don’t lie. We have seen first-hand the devastating effects of not wearing safety belts, and we want to prevent fatalities in any way possible, even if it means giving people tickets.”
Schofield, meanwhile, said police also are stepping up DUI enforcement. DUI, a catch-all term for both alcohol and narcotics-related abuse, is not the only traffic problem. Inattentive driving, speeding, red-light running and other offenses account for a good number of accidents in a city that is bisected by six major roads.
He also reminded motorists of the “Move Over Law” whereby motorists are required to give police, fire and other emergency personnel a whole lane of protection.
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Article published on Friday, May 25, 2007
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