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Last Updated: Thursday, May 14, 1998
Background
Sheriff's Office launching Operation ABC '98: Mobilizing America to Buckle up Children
Caddo Parish Sheriff Don Hathaway announced today that, in cooperation with the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign, the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office is launching Operation ABC '98 -- an effort by law enforcement to "mobilize America to Buckle up Children" on an unprecedented national scale.
Next week, Caddo Parish Sheriff's deputies will join law enforcement officers across the country to step up enforcement of child passenger safety laws. A grant from the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission will fund 50 hours of overtime for patrol deputies to help bring to the public's attention the importance of using air bags, seat belts and proper child restraint equipment. The Sheriff said the overtime will be spread throughout the parish during the public awareness campaign.
Sheriff Hathaway said the message his deputies are sending is simple: "The law requires that all children must be properly buckled up at all times. No exceptions. No excuses."
Despite widespread efforts to educate drivers about the importance of properly restraining children, motor vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of death to children. "It is our responsibility as law enforcement officers to protect innocent children by stepping up enforcement of child passenger safety laws," the Sheriff said.
Almost six out of 10 children killed in crashes are unbuckled, which means that a huge number of these deaths are totally preventable. In Louisiana and every other state, it is illegal for children to ride unrestrained. Still, in four out of 10 cases, drivers don't restrain their child passengers.
In Caddo Parish, Sheriff's deputies will step up enforcement activities throughout Buckle Up America Week (May 18-25) with the overtime funded by the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission grant. Operation ABC occurs annually during Buckle Up America Week, a keystone event for the nationwide initiative to increase seat belt use.
"Every one of our deputies would rather hand out a thousand tickets to drivers who don't buckle up their child passengers than to see one child die because they are unrestrained in a crash," Sheriff Hathaway commented. "We commend those drivers who properly buckle up child passengers, but we'll be out there to cite those who don't comply with Louisiana's laws. No exceptions. No excuses."
Recent data show how driver seat belt use impacts child belt use. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) most recent National Occupant Protection Use Survey, when the driver is buckled, restraint use for toddlers (ages 1-4) is 86 percent. However, when the driver is unbuckled, restraint use for toddlers dramatically drops to 23 percent.
"While education is important, it alone is not enough to ensure that all drivers properly restrain children," said Janet Dewey, executive director of the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign. In states that have conducted this kind of high-visibility enforcement, children's seat belt use has significantly increased.
Safety advocates, health professionals and legislators across the nation, working in collaboration with the NHTSA, agree that increasing overall seat belt use and reducing child occupant fatalities must be a national priority.
"Efforts like Operation ABC are essential to achieving the Buckle Up America goal to raise seat belt use to 90 percent and reduce child fatalities by 20 percent by the year 2005," Dewey said. "To succeed, we must enforce our seat belt and child safety laws."
National seat belt use currently stands at only 69 percent, and belt use among children is even lower. A full 40 percent of children continue to ride unbuckled. Nationwide last year, 2,100 children died in automobile crashes. Of those children more than 1,200 were totally unrestrained.