Seatbelt campaign includes ads aimed at under-35 crowd
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
The "Click It or Ticket" seatbelt safety campaign, which began yesterday and runs through June 6, will include $350,000 worth of advertising aimed at the "least buckled" group of passengers and drivers, those between the ages of 18 and 35.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Gov. Ben Cayetano yesterday said the state's four county police departments will deploy hundreds of officers from May 20 to June 6 to issue tickets to unbuckled drivers and passengers. They will also ticket drivers if children are not restrained properly in child safety seats in the back seat, he said.
Gov. Ben Cayetano prepares to sign a proclamation to kick off the "Click It or Ticket" campaign yesterday in a ceremony at his office attended by police officers from the four Hawai'i counties. The campaign to get more drivers to use their seatbelts includes advertising and a stepped-up ticketing effort from May 20 to June 6.
Seatbelt violators must pay $45-$67 for the fine, $15 for an administrative fee and $7 for a driver education fee.
State transportation director Brian Minaai said 42 people killed in vehicle crashes in the year 2000 were not wearing seatbelts, and 31 of them were between the ages of 16 and 35.
"These are the drivers who think they are invincible, that they won't be in a vehicle crash, and don't consider that they could be killed or seriously injured," he said.
Police Chief George Freitas of Kaua'i, which leads the state with the highest percentage of motorists wearing seatbelts (87.6 percent), said his officers hate to encounter the sad results of someone's failure to buckle up or use a child restraint.
Lt. Stanton Koizumi, head of the Kaua'i Police Department's traffic safety unit, said three of the last four people killed in traffic collisions on Kaua'i would have lived if they had worn seatbelts.
Paid for by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the campaign includes $100,000 for Honolulu and $50,000 each for Neighbor Island police departments to pay for their own additional enforcement and educational efforts, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marilyn Kali said.
Minaai said nearly half (48.7 percent) of the 474 people who have died in traffic fatalities in Hawai'i in the past six years were not wearing seatbelts.
"Had they been wearing seatbelts, some may very well be alive today," he said. "All it takes is one click to protect yourself in a car crash."
