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Published on Monday, May 19, 2003
in the Miami Herald
Strapless drivers be warned: It's time to buckle up.
Starting today, law enforcement agencies in Florida and other states are cracking down on motorists cruising without their seat belts as part of a national campaign, ''Click It Or Ticket,'' which runs through June 1.
Through television and radio ads, the campaign will give drivers, especially teens and young adults, a stern warning to buckle up, said Chuck Hurley, executive director of the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign, which pioneered national seat-belt enforcement mobilizations in 1997.
''What we're hoping is that within each state's law, there's a zero tolerance for unbuckled drivers,'' he said.
Florida has a ''secondary enforcement'' law. That means officers must see the driver commit another traffic infraction before they can issue a ticket for not wearing a seat belt -- unless it involves a child 5 or younger.
Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Julio Pajon says the agency will carry the ''zero tolerance'' policy and ticket all drivers in those cases.
''Many times when we stop someone for something like speeding, we give them a warning for not wearing their seat belt,'' he said. ``But during this time, everyone will receive a ticket.''
The mobilization's national television ads will feature drivers getting ticketed for not being strapped in. In all cases, they buckle up after getting a ticket.
According to officials from Buckle Up Florida, a Department of Transportation program aimed at increasing the state's seat-belt usage rate, last year's ''Click It or Ticket'' campaign left Florida at a 75.1 percent usage rate, surpassing the 73 percent national average.
On Thursday, the Florida House passed a bill that would toughen seat-belt enforcement, but it still has to go to the Senate for approval. If passed, it would allow police to pull over and ticket drivers for not wearing seat belts.
The ads can be seen during television programs such as American Idol, NBA and NHL conference playoffs and Saturday Night Live -- all programs that attract teens and young adults, especially men.
''Teens and young adults are killed at far higher rates in crashes because they are caught in a lethal intersection of inexperience: risk taking and low seat-belt use,'' U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said in a statement. ``These tragedies are predictable and therefore preventable, using proven techniques like high visibility enforcement mobilizations.''