TxDOT, East Texas Law Enforcement Remind Motorists to Buckle Up or Pay Up - May 17, 2012
Click It or Ticket begins May 21
Law enforcement officers and speakers participate in a Click It or Ticket news conference Wednesday morning, hosted by TxDOT at the Safety Rest Area on U.S. 59 in Leggett in Polk County. |
POLK COUNTY, Texas - Buckling up when riding in a vehicle is the law in Texas and East Texas law enforcement agencies are working with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to get the word out about Click It or Ticket (CIOT).
Today at the Safety Rest Area on U.S. 59 in Leggett, they provided proof that seat belts save lives by inviting a survivor to share the stage and tell her story of survival.
Pookie Chapel, 17, of Etoile, Texas, was severely injured in a head-on collision in 2002. She was 8-years-old. She says the seat belt saved her life. “My mother and I were hit head on by a drunk-drugged driver…” said Pookie. “We were in an older model Chevrolet single cab pickup truck and as we came around a blind curve the drunk driver was in our lane with not time to react. I had significant facial trauma and was transported by ambulance and taken directly into emergency surgery that evening. I required three additional reconstructive surgeries as well.”
“I struggled with being a passenger in a motor vehicle and needed counseling to work through the stress. My Mother and I were both buckled up. This along with God’s Grace is the reason I am alive. It only takes a few seconds to put on your seat belt but those few seconds can save your life.”
17-year-old Pookie Chapel of Etoile credits the seat belt for saving her life. She spoke a TxDOT news conference Wednesday morning to kick off the Click It or Ticket campaign. |
In TxDOT’s Lufkin District, statistics show that seat belts are the safest way to ride. “In the nine counties comprising the Lufkin District, 4.4% of the total crashes involve unrestrained occupants,” said Herbert Bickley, Traffic Operations Director. “Of the crashes that result in a fatality or incapacitating injury, over 30% of the occupants were unrestrained. This means that had the occupants been wearing a seat belt, crashes with severe injuries and fatalities could have potentially been reduced by almost one third.
“The counties in the Lufkin District with the higher numbers of crashes with unrestrained occupants were Angelina, Nacogdoches, Polk, and San Jacinto. As you know, U.S. 59 traverses these counties. With the higher volumes of traffic, there will be a higher possibility of crashes. The statistics show this to be true.”
Efforts to date have save an estimated 2,843 lives in Texas and prevented more than 48,000 serious injuries resulting from car crashes. In 2011, more than 3,000 people died in fatal collisions on Texas streets and highways, and almost half were not buckled up. Wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of fatal injury by 45 percent for car occupants and 60 percent for light-truck occupants. Pickup truck drivers are a major focus of this year’s campaign as statistics show that one out of every two pickup truck drivers killed in a traffic crash in 2010 was not wearing a seat belt.
TxDOT's Steve Walker uses a rollover convincer to show how a person who is not buckled up can be ejected from a vehicle during a crash. The demo was a part of a TxDOT new conference to kick off the 11th Annual Click It or Ticket seat enforcement campaign. |
TxDOT’s 11th annual Click It or Ticket enforcement campaign runs May 21 – June 3, including the Memorial Day holiday. Law enforcement officers will be working overtime issuing tickets to anyone who isn’t wearing their seat belt in the front or back seat. Fines for failing to fasten your seat belt can add up to $250, plus court costs.
In a show of support for the campaign, law enforcement officers representing the Polk County Sheriff’s Department, DPS, Corrigan Police Department, Livingston Police Department and the Onalaska Police Department lined the steps at the entrance of the Safety Rest Area building. Also speaking at the event, Polk County Judge John Thompson recanted the story of a fatal crash involving his son. The other driver died but Thompson credits the seat belt with saving his son’s life.
ER Nurse Sharon Byley with Memorial Medical Center of East Texas in Lufkin said with summer approaching emergency rooms will begin to fill with accident victims. “Many people go through the windshield, hit the dashboard or even the pavement,” she said. “The inside of a vehicle that you stay in – thanks to your seat belt – is known as “room to live. Vehicles are designed to keep you inside, but only if you use safety devices like seat belts. A seat belt won’t prevent crashes, but it is your best chance for walking away from a crash with your life and, hopefully, without serious injury.”
For more information, contact Kathi White in the Public Information Office at (936) 633- 4395 or Robyn Herring, Traffic Safety Specialist at (936) 633-4315. Visit www.texasclickitorticket.com for more information. Information about TxDOT is also available at www.txdot.gov. |
