Highway Patrol to begin 2-week seat belt campaign

3/10/2013

Special to The Hays Daily News

Beginning Monday and continuing through March 22, the Kansas Highway Patrol will work on an annual seat belt enforcement campaign near area high schools.

In 2012, according to Kansas Department of Transportation statistics, Kansas lost 43 teens in vehicle crashes, 74 percent of whom were not properly restrained. The KDOT Bureau of Transportation Safety and Technology is hosting this two-week awareness campaign in hopes of decreasing that number, and increasing seat belt usage. KDOT and law enforcement partners across the state have spent more than 20 years educating Kansas teens on the dangers of driving without a seat belt.

"Teenagers are at an exciting time in their lives, with many events ahead of them -- spring break, prom, graduation, state sporting events. We want them to be able to enjoy these activities, and not spend their time in a hospital bed recovering from injuries sustained in a crash, or even worse, not make it after being involved in a crash," said Colonel Ernest E. Garcia, superintendent of the patrol. "Our troopers will be working around schools, and if someone's not buckled up properly, it should not come as a surprise if they are issued a citation. We would much rather see teens and others properly buckled up, than to have to write someone a ticket."