PRESS RELEASE:
The Kansas City Missouri Police Department announced today it is joining with other law enforcement agencies Thursday, Feb. 25, for an aggressive “Click It or Ticket” mobilization to crack down on safety belt and child restraint law violators in an effort to reduce fatalities.
“Nearly every day, someone dies in a crash in Missouri because they weren’t wearing a seat belt,” said Sgt. Grant Ruark of the Traffic Enforcement Unit. “So far this year in Kansas City, Missouri, we have had a real decrease in fatal crashes as compared to the same time last year. While this is obviously great news we cannot let up. Wearing a seat belt is the single most effective way to protect people and reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes.”
To date, there have been five traffic fatalities in Kansas City in 2010 compared to 13 at this time in 2009.
Out of the 40 vehicle drivers and passengers killed in Kansas City traffic crashes in 2009, just seven of them were wearing seatbelts. Ten of those 40 were ejected from their vehicles.
Nearly one in four Missouri motorists still fail to regularly wear their safety belts. Only 77 percent of Missourians buckle up regularly which is 7 percent less than the national average.
Failure to regularly wear a safety belt can be deadly. In 2008, 489 people killed in traffic crashes were not wearing their seat belts. Seven out of ten Missourians killed in traffic crashes are unbuckled.
For information on Missouri seat belt usage, visit www.saveMOlives.com.
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