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St. Helens Police Promote Seat Belt Safety Over Holiday Weekend
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2019
St. Helens, Ore. – The Memorial Day holiday is one of the most deadly holidays for drivers. Buckling up is one of the safest choices that drivers and passengers can make to help save their lives in an accident. Seat belt use in passenger vehicles saved an estimated 14,955 lives in 2017 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The St. Helens Police Department is joining law enforcement agencies across Oregon to promote the use of safety belts thanks to grant funding from the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Safety Division. St. Helens officers will be conducting saturated patrols from Saturday, May 25 through Sunday, June 2, and extending through the month of June. The focus during this safety blitz period will be on day and night safety belt and child restraint use, as well as speed enforcement and no texting or cell phone use while driving.
The St. Helens Police Department wants to remind people that booster seats and car seats with a harness are required for children until they reach age eight or 4’9” in height and the adult belt fits them correctly. Additionally, Oregon law requires children to be secured in a rear-facing safety seat until their second birthday. This greatly improves their chance of surviving a crash.
“Research has shown that children in the second year of life are five times less likely to die or be seriously injured in a crash if they ride rear-facing. It is very important to secure your children correctly,” said Sergeant Jose Castilleja.
Of the 37,133 people killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2017, 47 percent were not wearing seat belts according to the NHTSA. Buckling up is the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself in a crash. Seat belts are the best defense against impaired, aggressive, and distracted drivers. Being buckled up during a crash helps keep you safe and secure inside your vehicle; being completely ejected from a vehicle is almost always deadly.
“Officers will be on the lookout for non-compliance with the law. These grant-funded patrols mean that there is zero tolerance for violations encountered during this time period,” said Sgt. Castilleja. “Wear your seatbelt and place your children in proper safety seats. Don’t use your mobile device while driving; put it in the glovebox if you need to. Be aware of the speed limit, especially near school zones. Our primary goal during these blitz periods is to keep our community safe.”
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For further information regarding the St. Helens Police Department’s Memorial Day safety belt blitz, please contact Sgt. Jose Castilleja at josec@ci.st-helens.or.us or 503-397-3333.
