Posted on: Sunday, May 18, 2003
Seat-belt campaign returns
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
Last year 85 people died in auto crashes in Hawai'i. Fifty-seven of them weren't wearing seat belts.
That's one of the reasons federal, state and county officials are gearing up to start their annual Click It or Ticket safety program again tomorrow.
"The best estimate is that seat belts save lives about 50 percent of the time in a serious crash," said Gordon Hong, the state Department of Transportation's safe community coordinator. "You can do the math. It means about 28 of those people would be alive today if they were wearing their belts."
This year's program will involve police on every island stepping up enforcement of the state's mandatory seat-belt law, stopping motorists on the move and in special roadblocks, officials said.
The federal government also plans to launch a series of television advertisements aimed at the worst group of seat-belt offenders — men between the ages of 18 and 34. The ads will appear on TV networks most likely to be watched by young men, including ESPN and WB.
Although Hawai'i has one of the highest rates of seat- belt compliance in the nation, there's still room for improvement, Hong said. A study last year found more than 90 percent of Hawai'i drivers were buckled up. Nationwide, the rate is closer to 75 percent.
"But our surveys show that usage is much lower in some areas, especially those passengers who are riding in the back seat," Hong said.
According to a survey conducted last year by University of Hawai'i researchers, seat-belt use in Hawai'i was lowest among those riding in trucks, in light traffic or in a shopping center at comparatively slow speeds and at night.
Compliance with the state law, which requires all front-seat occupants as well as those under 18 in the back seat to be buckled up, was highest on O'ahu and Kaua'i and lowest on Maui. On O'ahu, compliance rates tended to be lowest along the Leeward Coast and the North Shore.
"The most common excuse we hear is that they just forgot to put on the seat belt," said Lt. Jeffrey Tanouye, who heads the Maui County Police traffic unit, which received $50,000 to finance its seat-belt efforts. "It's an attitude really. Most people just don't believe anything will happen to them."
Honolulu received $100,000 this year to finance seat belt enforcement and education. Hawai'i County officials got $50,000 and Kaua'i received $25,000. The counties are free to use the money for safety programs throughout the year but encouraged to step up visible enforcement during the spring Click It or Ticket campaign, which runs through June 1, Hong said.
Nationwide, more money is being spent on advertising than enforcement this year in order to reach a group of unbelted drivers who don't usually see news reports about the police crackdown.
Those drivers "don't watch Tom Brokaw or CNN," said Philip Haseltine, president of the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety and an organizer of this year's campaign.
One new 30-second advertisement shows young men happily driving down highways and then being pulled over and issued tickets for not wearing their belts. The strategy is based on the idea that young men do not fear death or disfigurement as much as they fear the flashing lights in the rearview mirror.
And there will be a lot of flashing lights: In addition to the Hawai'i efforts, 12,000 law enforcement agencies from all the other states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have said they will participate in this year's enforcement campaign.
On Maui, for instance, police will use a share of the state's Click It or Ticket money to add extra patrols and pay officers who want to work overtime to ticket violators.
"We're trying to raise our compliance above the 85.7 percent we had last year," Tanouye said. "It's what we need to do. Somehow, we've got to figure out a way to get a long-term effect."
