Police officials are hoping that adopting a "zero tolerance" policy during this year’s "Click It or Ticket" campaign will help increase the territory’s seat belt usage rate to 87 percent and cut down on the number of traffic-related deaths.
The campaign is a national initiative sponsored by the U.S. Transportation Department’s Highway Traffic Safety Administration and is carried out in conjunction with state and territorial law enforcement agencies. The campaign has been ongoing since 1993, and this year will be enforced in the territory from March 23 to June 5.
During this time, police officers will be "out in force" monitoring for seat belt violations using checkpoint and saturated patrols. At a press conference on St. Thomas Tuesday, St. Thomas-St. John District Police Chief Rodney Querrard said that once an officer spots a violation, there will be no warnings.
"Local motorists should be prepared to buckle up," he said. "If law enforcement finds you unbuckled, you can expect to get a ticket, not a warning. There will be no excuses and no exceptions."
Querrard said the department will make it a priority to ramp up enforcement during the night, since nighttime drivers are "most like to die in crashes while unrestrained." Querrard said national statistics show 11,593 individuals died in car accidents nationwide in 2009 between the hours of 6 p.m. and 5:59 am.
"Many more nighttime deaths could be avoided if motorists simply started wearing their seatbelts," he said. Querrard said high visibility enforcement seen during campaigns such as "Click It or Ticket" has been credited with raising the national seat belt usage rate from 58 percent in 1994 to 85 percent in 2010.
Right now, the territory is above the national rate at 86.4 percent, but Sgt. Rosalind Jarvis, the V.I. Police Department’s district traffic commander, said the goal is to raise the rate to 87 percent. This year so far, not wearing a seat belt has claimed the life of one child in the territory, while there were two other serious injuries to children and adults, she said.
Jarvis said local laws require drivers and front seat passengers to be restrained by shoulder and lap belts, while children up to age 1, or at least 20 pounds, must be buckled into safety seats facing the rear of the vehicle. Children between 1 and 5 years old, and at least 40 pounds, should be buckled into safety seats facing the front of the vehicle.
Children 40 to 80 pounds, less than eight years old and measuring less than 4’9, must use a booster seat. Child safety seats must be located in the rear seat of the car, Jarvis said. Children 13 and under must sit in the back seat of a car properly equipped with air bags, and either have an appropriate car seat or be restrained by a seat belt.
Residents with questions can call the Traffic Bureau at: 774-2211 on St. Thomas, 772-4819 on St. Croix, or 693-8880 on St. John; or the Highway Traffic Safety Administration office on St. Croix at 772-2035.
