Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 27, 1994 TAG: 9408120033
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Short
The competition, sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, was developed by the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as part of a campaign to increase safety-belt use.
Sgt. Gary Harmon of the Radford Police Department said competitors had to document their efforts to encourage seat-belt usage and to enforce laws requiring their use.
"For 1993, we wrote 339 tickets for failure to use seat belts, and 30 additional people were charged with failure to have child-restraint devices," he said. Statistics collected by the Radford police showed seat-belt usage rose from 71 percent in June, 1993, to 73 percent last January.
Pulaski's Crime Prevention Coordinator Vanessa Hill said usage rose from 49 percent to 52 percent over the past year. Town officers cited 90 motorists in 1993 for seat-belt violations, up 23 over the previous year. Pulaski won first place in the state competition a few months ago, she said.
The national safety-belt use rate is 62 percent, up from 11 percent in the early 1980s.
Radford and Pulaski are among 28 law enforcement organizations that will be recognized at the IACP's annual conference in Albuquerque, N.M., in October.
by CNB