The Galena Police Department will be joining agencies throughout Kansas from August 20 through Labor Day, September 7, in an effort in removing drunk and other impaired drivers from the roadways during You Drink. You Drive. You Lose.
It is illegal to drive while impaired, yet, in 2018 one person was killed in a drunk driving crash every 50 minutes in the United States.
The You Drink. You Drive. You Lose enforcement campaign is intended to remind drivers:
To have a sober driver lined up BEFORE you drink alcohol away from home. Or take a sober ride to and from the location. Remember, this is your decision.
Check your medications for driving warnings. More and more in Kansas, DUI arrests are occurring during daytime hours, largely due to the side effects of prescription drugs.
BEFORE you choose to drink and drive, think about your family, your friends, your coworkers, neighbors.
Always wear your seat belt, it is your best defense against impaired drivers. Every trip, every time.
You can count on this department to vigorously enforce impaired driving and other traffic laws, not just during this enforcement campaign but all through the year.
Beginning on Monday, May 18th, and continuing through Sunday, May 31st , travelers can expect increased police presence as the Galena Police Department joins other law enforcement agencies in aggressively enforcing Kansas occupant restraint and other traffic laws as part of the 2020 Kansas Click It or Ticket campaign. This activity is supported by a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). Enforcement will occur around the clock. Seatbelt use diminishes after nightfall, meaning the likelihood of unbelted crash injuries and deaths rise during those hours.
The aim of Click It or Ticket is simple: to effectively reduce the number of preventable deaths and injuries that occur when unbelted drivers and passengers are involved in traffic crashes. About 345 persons are involved in 170 crashes each day in Kansas. Only 7% of those that are unbelted are likely to escape without injury. Half of all fatalities occur among those who are not wearing a seat belt. While seat belts may not always prevent a serious or fatal injury, certainly no other piece of equipment within the vehicle provides more protection.
“I want people to know that, day or night, the Galena Police Department is committed to aggressively ticketing violators of adult seat belt and child safety laws, as well as other traffic infractions, which make the need for occupant restraint so necessary. The stop will be inconvenient, your vehicle and driver’s license numbers will likely be checked for outstanding warrants and insurance, and you will pay at least $30 to the court. So, use your belt, every trip, every time.”
The Galena
Police Department will join other law enforcement agencies in Kansas, Missouri
and Oklahoma with increased enforcement near high schools to raise awareness on
roadway safety. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens
(15-18 years old) in the United States – ahead of all other types of injury,
disease or violence.
“Even one
teen death is unacceptable,”. “Please slow down, put the phone away or turn it
off, and always buckle up.”
Officers
will issue citations to any individual who refuses to obey the traffic laws,
whether it is for speeding, texting or failing to buckle up. Remind teens that
driving is a privilege and encourage them to learn about the importance of
driving safely.
Beginning on Monday, May 20,
and continuing through Sunday, June 2, travelers can expect increased police
presence on city streets as the Galena Police Department joins 180 other law
enforcement agencies in aggressively enforcing Kansas occupant restraint and
other traffic laws as part of the 2019 Kansas Click It or Ticket
campaign. This activity is supported by a
grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). Enforcement will occur around the clock
because seatbelt use diminishes after nightfall, meaning the likelihood of unbelted
crash injuries and deaths soars during those hours.
Drivers will be confronted
with strict enforcement of both the Kansas Safety Belt Use Act and the Kansas Child
Passenger Safety Act. These statutes
require that all vehicle occupants must be appropriately restrained. Law enforcement officers can stop vehicles and
issue tickets when they observe occupants riding unrestrained or without proper
restraint. Occupants, ages 14 and over,
are cited individually. If a passenger
under the age of 14 is observed to be unrestrained the driver will be
cited. The fine for an adult (18+) seat belt
violation is $30. The fine for a youth
(14-17) violation is $60, while the fine for a child (0-13) restraint violation
is $60 plus a court cost charge of $111.00.
Children under the age of
four must be correctly secured in an approved child safety seat. Children, ages four through seven, must be securely
belted into an approved booster seat unless taller than 4 feet 9 inches or
heavier than 80 pounds, in which case, the booster may be removed, and the
child belted in without it. Children,
ages eight through 13, must be safety-belted.
In addition, Kansas law prohibits persons under the age of 14 from
riding in any part of a vehicle not intended for carrying passengers, such as a
pickup bed. For answers to child safety
restraint questions and the location of the nearest safety seat fitting station,
or safety seat technician, contact the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Office at
1-800-416-2522, or write ktsro@dccca.org.
The aim of Click It or Ticket is simple:
to drastically reduce the number of preventable deaths and injuries that
occur when unbelted drivers and passengers are involved in traffic crashes. About 345 persons are involved in 170 crashes
each day in Kansas. According to KDOT ninety-three
percent of them are buckled in. As for
those who are not strapped in, only 7% of them are likely to escape without
injury. While seat belts may not always
prevent from serious or fatal injury, certainly no other piece of equipment
within the vehicle provides more protection.
Kansas’ overall adult seat belt
compliance rate is 84% and ranges, by county, from 71% to 96%, with occupants
in rural counties generally less likely to buckle up than those in urban
counties. According to KDOT, this rural-urban
difference in rates of buckling up is especially problematic because rural
roadway conditions are, in general, less forgiving than those in urban areas,
and the consequences of driver misjudgment – such as unsafe speed and failure
to buckle up – are likely to be more severe in the event of a crash. It is easy to see why almost two-thirds of
Kansas’ fatality crashes occur on rural roadways while these roads account for only
one-third of all crashes.
As for child passenger safety,
Kansans like to see their state as one which protects children, and it does well
with its youngest ones. Overall, those aged
0-4, are buckled in to child safety seats at the rate of 97%. However, only 87% of 5- to 14-year olds are
properly restrained. This means that 1
out of 8 Kansas children, aged 5-14, are made especially vulnerable while
traveling by the failure of their drivers to restrain them. In 70% of those cases the driver is also
unbelted.
According to Chief Billy
Charles, “I want people in the city of Galena to remember that when they don’t
buckle up themselves, or require their passengers to buckle up, they are, in
effect, promising themselves and those passengers, as well as family and
friends, that no circumstance will arise that will activate seat belts,
whether it be chemical impairment, distraction, sleepiness, kids fighting in
the back seat, etc. either in their own vehicle or in the other vehicles they
meet on the road.
“I want people to know that, day or night, The
Galena Police Department is committed to aggressively ticketing violators of adult
seat belt and child safety laws, as well as other traffic infractions, which
make the need for occupant restraint so necessary. The stop will be inconvenient, your vehicle
and driver’s license numbers will likely be checked for outstanding warrants
and insurance, and you’ll pay at least $30 to the court. So, use your belt and save yourself the
trouble.”
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