Law enforcement advocates safety in campaign

“There were just as many traffic crashes, and the number of people injured was the same that weekend, but there were less fatalities,” said Capt. Christian Ricks of the coalition. “We have to ask ourselves, did pushing seatbelt usage in the campaign save some lives?”

The campaign was conducted statewide May 23-June 5. Missouri law enforcement officers issued over 16,000 tickets, including 4,500 for safety belt usage and 7,200 for speeding.

Radio messages and public service announcements aided in getting the campaign’s slogan out to the community, Ricks said.

“The campaign itself was just getting people to talk about safety, and that brings up awareness. That’s what we’re shooting for,” he said.

The coalition’s goal was to increase safety belt usage from last year’s 76 percent. Results of the campaign are not compiled yet, but Ricks said a 5 percent increase would be satisfactory. Safety belt usage has gone up every year since 1998, according to a news release.

The campaign was funded by grants from MoDOT’s Highway Safety Division and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Missouri Safety Center.