FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 17, 2004

CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8409

SCDPS KICKS OFF BUCKLE UP, SOUTH CAROLINA

COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Department of Public Safety today kicked off its Buckle Up, South Carolina campaign aimed at saving lives by increasing the use of safety restraint devices.

“We begin this campaign with the hope that what we do in the coming weeks and months will have an impact on the lives of motorists in South Carolina,” DPS Director James Schweitzer said. “Through midnight Sunday, 361 people had died in collisions on our highways. Of that number, 308 were either driving or riding in vehicles that had seat belts. Unfortunately, only 20 percent of those who died in these collisions were wearing seat belts.”

The public education portion of the campaign began today with television public service announcements airing around the state. The enforcement portion will run from May 24-June 6. Once again, officers will place their focus on “enforcement zones” or stretches of highway that are shown to have the highest number of fatal collisions. The primary killers on our highways include: failure to yield right of way, speeding, drinking and driving and disregarding sign/signal.

The national emphasis will be on teens and young drivers. In South Carolina, our public education emphasis will be on the South Carolina male: age 16-24. In a recent national seatbelt survey, the lowest belt use was among young adults (16-24) and use generally increases with age among people 16 and over.

Last year, 968 people were killed in South Carolina; 68 percent of vehicle occupant fatalities were not buckled up.

Every hour, at least one person dies in this country because he or she didn’t buckle up. Failure to use a seat belt contributes to more fatalities than any other single traffic safety-related behavior. If 90 percent of motorists on our nation’s roadways buckled up, it is estimated that we would prevent 5,536 additional fatalities and 132,700 additional injuries annually.

The national occupant restraint effort is called “Click It or Ticket” and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has purchased air time for Click It or Ticket television commercials all over the United States, including here in South Carolina. However, the national Click It or Ticket campaign and the South Carolina-run Buckle Up, South Carolina campaign are two different campaigns.

Buckling up is the law in South Carolina. Our seat belt law is secondary for persons 18 and older. This means that a law enforcement officer may not stop a vehicle for a violation of the seat belt law in the absence of another traffic violation. However, the law becomes primary for persons 17 and younger. An officer may stop a vehicle and issue a citation when he observes an occupant 17 or younger who is not wearing a seat belt or secured in a child safety seat.

For a list of enforcement zones or safety belt information, please log onto www.buckleupsc.com.

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