The Early Police Department has began the STEP wave enforcement targeting speeding violations and seat belts violation. The Step program is funded by a TxDot grant paying the overtime for officers to target areas of safety concerns through certain holiday periods.
The Memorial Day period extends from May 18th to June 1st. Extra officers will be working the highways of Early enforcing these violations and others. Buckling up is simple—it takes about two seconds and it’s the number one way to avoid being hurt in a crash. Yet there are still more than a million Texans who don’t always use seat belts.
Many people may not know about a couple of new state laws passed last year. The TxDot click it or ticket campaign also kicks off on May 24th – June 6th. For more than 20 years, passengers in the front seat could get a ticket for not wearing their safety belts. But now, for the first time, passengers who aren’t buckled up in the back seat can get a ticket, too. No matter how old you are, no matter where you’re sitting in the vehicle, you must be buckled up. The reason for this new backseat safety belt law is to keep more Texans safe.
When you buckle up in the back seat of a car, you are 44 percent more likely to survive a crash than if you don’t buckle up. And if you’re riding in the back of a passenger van or SUV, you are a full 73 percent more likely to survive a crash if you’ve got your safety belt on.
Here in Early our officers have worked crashes that have ended in serious injury and death. Officers dread pulling up to the scene of a traffic crash where the people involved weren’t buckled up. It is not a pretty sight. So when we pull you over for not wearing your safety belt, it’s because we’d much rather hand you a ticket than witness the consequences of what happens when you’re in a crash and you don’t have your seatbelt on.
Buckling up in the back seat isn’t the only new law Texas passed last year to keep its citizens safe. Another new law requires children under the age of 8 to be in a child safety seat or booster seat unless they are taller than 4 feet 9 inches. Most kids between 4 and 8 are going to need to be in a booster seat until they are tall enough for a regular seat belt to fit them properly.
Bottom line: A small investment in a booster seat can save you from getting a fine up to $250 and help your child avoid serious injury and even death. Save yourself the time, the money, the hassle, and potentially a life. Buckle your safety belt. Wear it properly, and wear it every time you get into a vehicle. Because if you don’t, you can count on one of us to remind you. Click It or Ticket!
