Safety Belt

ANNAPOLIS -- Thanks to the General Assembly, Maryland's mandatory seat belt law is about to pick up pickups.By a 119-11 vote, the House of Delegates enacted legislation yesterday that expands the seat belt law to include light trucks.Under current law, automobile drivers, front-seat passengers and children under age 5 must be restrained by a safety belt.As initially proposed by the Schaefer administration, the legislation would have made failing to wear a seat belt a primary offense. That would have allowed police officers to stop motorists for a seat belt infraction alone.

Every once in a while, you come across a statistic so mind-boggling you figure it can't possibly be true. For instance, a local TV station ran a news report recently about Maryland's newest "Click It or Ticket" campaign, part of a nationwide effort. These are the campaigns that encourage citizens to use seat belts - most of the encouragement coming in the form of no-nonsense state troopers who'll be stopping motorists and issuing tickets if they're not buckled up. Anyway, the report went on to say that some 500,000 people in Maryland don't use seat belts.

Maryland ranks third in the nation in the use of safety belts, with 85 percent of state residents buckling up. The national rate is 71 percent. North Dakotans have the lowest rate of safety belt usage - 47.7 percent. Data are from 2000. Safety......Safety belt....Rank .............usage rate California......88.9......1 New Mexico......86.6......2 Maryland......85.0......3 Oregon......83.6......4 Michigan......83.5......5 Washington......81.6......6 North Carolina......80.5.....

As determined as he is to make sure Marylanders wear seat belts, the thought of state troopers peering into cars on Rockville Pike with the same technology Special Forces use on night raids in Baghdad was a bit too much for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Ehrlich ordered the state police yesterday never to repeat its experiment using night-vision goggles to catch violators of the state's seat belt law. "The governor is committed to making sure Maryland's safety...

It has been nearly a decade since Maryland passed its mandatory automobile seat belt law, and by now many of us think about buckling up about as much as breathing. So perhaps it seemed a little silly this week when Anne Arundel County Councilman George F. Bachman of Linthicum got an award for wearing his seat belt.On May 10, Mr. Bachman was returning from an Arundel council meeting and was almost home when a drunken driver hit his car. Thanks to persistent training by his wife and council aide, Anna, he was wearing a seat belt.

The Hampstead Police Department is participating in the 2004 Maryland Chief's Challenge, being held through June 6. The annual event is an initiative to educate the public about the importance of using seat belts and child safety seats. The challenge is co-sponsored by the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, Maryland Committee for Safety Belt Use and Maryland Highway Safety Office. The Hampstead police will be conducting belt-use surveys and establishing enforcement zones in and around town during the two-month period.

C Drivers in Carroll County, particularly those of pickup trucks, have slipped considerably in the use of seat belts, according to surveys conducted last month.Pickup truck drivers complied with the seat belt requirement only 57.4 percent of the time during the survey, compared with an 82 percent compliance rate in a survey several months ago.The surveys are an activity in the Golden Eagle Competition, and no citations were issued during the observations.The Golden Eagle Competition is a new highway safety initiative sponsored by the Maryland Association of Women Highway Safety Leaders and the State Highway Administration, according to the Carroll County Health Department.

Police monitor safety belt useWestminster police said 35 percent of the motorists in the city did not wear safety belts during an observation day at four intersections last month. More than 2,400 vehicles were checked, they said.Police said 75 percent of female drivers wore seat belts while 57 percent of male drivers wore the safety restraints. Forty-three percent of all truck drivers (pickup trucks or larger) wore the belts.Officers said 100 percent of the motorcycles riders were obeying the law and wore helmets during the safety check.

State and local officials will join law enforcement agencies today at the state police barracks in Westminster to renew a 10-year commitment to get motorists to buckle up.State and local authorities have declared May and June as Maryland Chief's Challenge months, exhorting motorists to comply with seat belt laws because statistics show that correct use of the belts reduces the risk of fatal or serious injuries."

Gov. Parris N. Glendening and three state groups will launch a program today to increase seat belt use across the state.The two-month program, called the Maryland Chiefs' Challenge because one of the three sponsoring groups is the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, was to be announced at a 9 a.m. ceremony on the State House steps facing Lawyers Mall.While the program runs, Maryland State Police and other law enforcement agencies will step up enforcement of the state's mandatory seat belt law. Program co-sponsors include the Maryland Committee for Safety Belt Use and the State Highway Administration.

The Hampstead Police Department is participating in the 2004 Maryland Chief's Challenge, being held through June 6. The annual event is an initiative to educate the public about the importance of using seat belts and child safety seats. The challenge is co-sponsored by the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, Maryland Committee for Safety Belt Use and Maryland Highway Safety Office. The Hampstead police will be conducting belt-use surveys and establishing enforcement zones in and around town during the two-month period.

Maryland ranks third in the nation in the use of safety belts, with 85 percent of state residents buckling up. The national rate is 71 percent. North Dakotans have the lowest rate of safety belt usage - 47.7 percent. Data are from 2000. Safety......Safety belt....Rank .............usage rate California......88.9......1 New Mexico......86.6......2 Maryland......85.0......3 Oregon......83.6......4 Michigan......83.5......5 Washington......81.6......6 North Carolina......80.5.....

Bowhunters have a strong safety record, but the Department of Natural Resources offers the following tips for those using tree stands and reminds archers of hunter-orange requirements when other seasons are in effect.Stands: Half of the 18 hunting-related accidents reported in 1997-98 involved tree stands. Check permanent stands before hunting from them and replace weak or worn lumber. Follow manufacturer's recommendations before installing commercial stands and inspect portable stands for loose nuts and bolts before each use.Climbing belts and safety straps: Most accidents occur when climbing or descending, so use a climbing belt.

Michael Collins, a West Friendship volunteer firefighter, has responded to serious accidents involving people not wearing seat belts.But yesterday afternoon, while driving down Frederick Road in his pickup truck, Collins wasn't strapped in -- and he got a $25 ticket for it."I know it's the law," the 21-year-old Ellicott City resident said. "This makes me think a little more."Collins and 43 others were ticketed yesterday at a safety-belt checkpoint that was run by Howard County police from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Frederick Road in Ellicott City.

State and local officials will join law enforcement agencies today at the state police barracks in Westminster to renew a 10-year commitment to get motorists to buckle up.State and local authorities have declared May and June as Maryland Chief's Challenge months, exhorting motorists to comply with seat belt laws because statistics show that correct use of the belts reduces the risk of fatal or serious injuries."

Gov. Parris N. Glendening and three state groups will launch a program today to increase seat belt use across the state.The two-month program, called the Maryland Chiefs' Challenge because one of the three sponsoring groups is the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, was to be announced at a 9 a.m. ceremony on the State House steps facing Lawyers Mall.While the program runs, Maryland State Police and other law enforcement agencies will step up enforcement of the state's mandatory seat belt law. Program co-sponsors include the Maryland Committee for Safety Belt Use and the State Highway Administration.

In the city that reads, motorists need a two-word vocabulary lesson: Buckle up.Surveys conducted by the city and state show that Baltimore drivers and passengers are far less likely to wear seat belts than their counterparts elsewhere. The lapse has increased fatalities and the severity of accident injuries and costs, according to safety experts."Seat belt compliance, like a lot of things, has to do with people's concern for health and safety," said Fred Shoken, a city traffic safety educator.

Five Howard County students are no dummies when it comes to seat belts.As Centennial Elementary School fifth-graders last year, they were part of a group that worked on a yearlong safety belt awareness project.The result of the students' work is a 28-minute video called "Kids Asking Questions: Secure Your Life -- Wear Your Seatbelt." All elementary school teachers will use the video as a training tool this year to help them teach seat belt safety classes."Not many people realized how effective it is to wear seat belts," said group member Jamie Hilliard, 11, now a Burleigh Manor Middle School sixth-grader.

THE WHITE HOUSE flack played it for laughs before the White House press corps, a calculated soft sell for an increasingly hard customer."You never know how to get the little thingy in through the back and get it stuck into the little dealy that goes in the side," press secretary Mike McCurry explained about the trouble with installing child safety seats. He started the audience laughing."You never know whether it's plugged in or not, and then your child goes flying over when you are turning too fast to the right," he continued.

It has been nearly a decade since Maryland passed its mandatory automobile seat belt law, and by now many of us think about buckling up about as much as breathing. So perhaps it seemed a little silly this week when Anne Arundel County Councilman George F. Bachman of Linthicum got an award for wearing his seat belt.On May 10, Mr. Bachman was returning from an Arundel council meeting and was almost home when a drunken driver hit his car. Thanks to persistent training by his wife and council aide, Anna, he was wearing a seat belt.