Beginning Friday, November 20, through Sunday, Nov 29, 2020 the Galena Police Department will join many other law enforcement agencies across the state, including the Kansas Highway Patrol, in the Kansas Thanksgiving Safe Arrivaltraffic enforcement campaign. A grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) will support overtime enforcement efforts. While all Kansas Traffic Laws will be enforced, this extra provision will be aggressively targeting and removing impaired drivers from our roads.
According to KDOT, the day before Thanksgiving sees more impairment-related crashes than any other day of the year. Those who choose to drive under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, are a danger to all they share the road with–their passengers, other motorists and their passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Impaired driving crashes tend to be more severe. On average, across Kansas, three persons are injured every day, and one person is killed every four days in alcohol/drug-related crashes. Vehicle occupants in alcohol- or other drug-related crashes are over 2 ½ times more likely to be injured or killed than those involved in crashes where alcohol or other drugs were not a factor.
Each week across Kansas, over 250 drivers are arrested for choosing to drive impaired
(Driving Under the Influence). A DUI conviction will result in jail time, the suspension or revocation of driver’s license, a fine of $500 to $2,500, participation in an alcohol or other drug treatment program and, where alcohol is cited as a contributing factor, the purchase and installation of an ignition interlock device by the offender. This device prevents the vehicle from starting if alcohol is present in the driver’s breath. All of this is in addition to thousands of dollars more for bail, court costs, and attorney fees.
“Keep in mind that if you are going to be drinking; Arrange to ride with a non-drinking acquaintance BEFORE you go out.”
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or both is a choice YOU make. Make the right choice. On the drive to zero, YOU are in the driver’s seat.
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.
On Monday, October 28th, The Galena Police
Department along with other law enforcement agencies across Kansas will step up
patrols around area schools. Officers will pay close attention to vehicles
arriving and departing the area to ensure occupants are using their seat belts.
This extra enforcement will run through November 1st.
According to the 2017 Kansas observational seatbelt survey, children
are much more likely to be buckled up if the driver is wearing their seatbelts.
If the driver is buckled, about 98% of the children are restrained. If the
driver is not buckled, only about 29% of the observed children were
buckled. Parents need to be aware that
wearing a seatbelt properly is the best prevention of serious injury or death
in a vehicle. There should be no surprise when it comes to this enforcement.
For the latest data and to see more about Kansas safety belt
laws, go to www.ktsor.org
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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