SEATBELT HARASSMENT IN IDAHO
On November 14,
2005, the Idaho State Patrol began a vicious campaign of harassment, threats and
intimidation under the name "Click-it, don't risk it". This campaign was
conducted in response to urging from, under the guidance of, and with funding by, NHTSA,
with the additional inducement of helping Idaho to qualify for millions in future seatbelt
grants.
For three days, the media, radio, television
and newspaper, featured stories containing dire warnings of the "you had better wear
your seatbelt" variety. Here is a sample:
From the Idaho
Statesman, November 17, 2005:
"Boise
police will have extra patrols for the next few weeks monitoring traffic and looking
specifically for motorists not wearing seat belts.
Officers say about 78
percent of citizens in Boise are using seat belts. Over the next three
weeks, officers hope extra education and enforcement will increase that number. Boise
police are using a $12,000 federal grant to pay for overtime for the patrols, which will
run through Dec. 5.
Eighteen officers will work the extra traffic patrols focusing on finding seat belt
violators.
Studies show seat belt use dramatically increases a person´s chances of
surviving a car accident and can save taxpayer dollars.
The following is provided by the Idaho Office of Highway Safety:
85 percent of all crash victims´ medical costs fall on society, not the individuals
involved.
On average, five Idahoans are killed or seriously injured every day
in traffic crashes. In 2004, 58 percent of the 196 motor vehicle occupants who died in
traffic crashes in Idaho were not wearing seat belts.
Safety belts reduce fatalities among passenger car occupants by 45 percent, and by
60 percent in light trucks, according to the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.
In Idaho, 79 percent of occupants buckle up in cars, vans and sport utility vehicles,
while just 62 percent of pickup occupants buckle up."
You
will notice that nowhere in this announcement does it point out that Idaho has a secondary
seatbelt law which makes it illegal for police to stop motorists for not wearing a
seatbelt. The announcement simply repeats the usual set of false and misleading statements
put out by NHTSA. On the other hand, it does not specifically say, although it implies,
that motorists not wearing seatbelts will be stopped and cited by the police.
The television and radio announcements likewise stated that
"if you are going to be out driving today you had better wear a seatbelt because the
police will have extra patrols out looking for violators." Again, it implies, but
does not actually say, that the police will violate the law.
In their own announcement, the police
slipped up, however, because, in addition to implying that violators would be stopped and
cited, they stated that "Idaho state law requires all motor vehicle occupants to be
buckled up". In fact, the Idaho law, like the Washington state law, only requires
occupants to be buckled up if "the motor vehicle was manufactured in compliance with
federal motor vehicle safety standard 208". In other words, they lied.
The history of the Idaho state law is
really rather interesting in that initially it did not explicitely say that the law shall
be enforced only as a secondary offense. The police took this to mean that the law could
be enforced as a primary offense and proceeded to do so. Even though the fine was only $5,
this was challenged in court and upheld in the case of State vs. Roe (90 P.3d 926). In
July of 2003, the Idaho state legislature then added a paragraph to the statute making the
law explicitly secondary (paragraph 5, 49-673). What makes all this meaningless, however,
is that the Idaho law also says that the motorist may be cited for not wearing a seatbelt
if the vehicle has been stopped for another "suspected" violation. Of course the
police can stop anybody at any time for a "suspected" violation. "Oh gee,
we thought you were drunk. Well, I guess you are not drunk, but, by the way, here is a
ticket for not wearing a seatbelt". Perfectly legal.
Here is the press release issued by the Idaho State Department
of Transportation:
Idaho
Transportation Department - Main Page ONLINE SERVICES
ITD Home
OHS Home
Click It
The Root Family Story
Seat Belt Educational Materials
Press Releases
Seat Belt Cost Savings
Observational Seat Belt Surveys
National Occupant Protection Programs
Idaho Seat Belt Law
Listen to the May mobilization radio message .mp3(487 kb)
Windows Media player is required to listen to this radio
message.
To download a free version, go to
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/mp10/default.aspx
Watch the "Don't be a Dummy" television ad .mov(1191 kb)
Apple Quicktime player is required to view this ad. To
download a
free version, go to
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/player/
Listen to the November mobilization radio message .mp3(487
kb)
Windows Media player is required to listen to this radio
message.
"Click It, Don't Risk It!" campaign
begins Monday (Nov. 14) Motorists will have an extra incentive to buckle up beginning
Monday (Nov. 14), when a safety campaign including stepped-up enforcement and education
gets under way. The Idaho State Police, Idaho Transportation Department and about 30 local
law enforcement agencies are participating in the "Click It, Don't Risk It!"
seat belt campaign. The increased patrols and an advertising campaign, which continue
through Dec. 5, are aimed at saving lives and reducing costs associated with traffic
crashes. Idaho law requires everyone in a vehicle to wear safety restraints regardless of
where they are seated. "Our goal is to reduce the tragic, unnecessary deaths and
serious injuries that happen every day in Idaho," says Mary Hunter of the
transportation department. "We hope these efforts will keep more families intact, so
they can enjoy the upcoming holidays." Buckling up remains the single best defense
against serious injury or death for you and your passengers if you are involved in a
crash, Hunter adds. Last year in Idaho, 552 people who were killed or seriously injured in
motor vehicle crashes were not wearing seat belts. Even those who survive crashes can
suffer the consequences of their injuries for the rest of their lives. "It is
especially important for adults to set a good example for younger family members,"
Hunter says. "Last year, Idaho lost 25 teens in traffic crashes, and two out of three
were not buckled up."
Safety belts reduce fatalities among passenger car occupants by 45
percent, and by 60 percent in light trucks, according to the
American Journal of Preventative Medicine. In Idaho, 80 percent of
people buckle up in cars, vans and sport utility vehicles, while
just 63 percent of pickup occupants buckle up.
"Click It, Don't Risk It!" campaign
messages will emphasize the importance of buckling up every time for every trip. Radio ads
will feature local law enforcement officers encouraging people to use seat belts.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportations National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA), 85 percent of all crash victims' medical costs fall on society,
not the individuals involved. Medicare, Medicaid and other taxpayer-funded sources pay one
quarter of those medical costs. Crash victims who are buckled up average 60-80 percent
lower hospital costs than those who were not wearing seat belts. "The seat belt is a
free piece of safety equipment. Of all the safety features added to vehicles since 1960,
one - the safety belt - accounts for more than half of all lives saved, according to
NHTSA," Hunter adds
Page Last Modified: 11/30/2005 4:01:28 PM
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You will notice that the statement actually says that all
motorists are required to be buckled up, which is an out and out lie.
I took the trouble to find out who this Mary Hunter is
who issued this statement and it turns out that she is the Grants and Contracts Officer
for the Idaho State Department of Transportation.
You have to have a sense of humor if you want to stay
sane in this business so we at least got a good laugh out of that one.
What one notices in reading these statements is the same
combination of false, misleading and meaningless statements. The ancient greeks called
this "sophistry", i.e., a statement which would sound good to stupid people who
didnt stop to think about it, but didnt stand up under close examination.
Here is another sample:
This is obviously an earlier announcement. In addition to
misrepresenting the facts about seatbelts, the announcement also mis-states the facts
about the Idaho seatbelt law. It conveniently fails to mention that the law applies only
to vehicles equipped with seatbelts which conform to FMVS 208. and that the legislature
also added a proviso, effective July 1, 2003, explicitly making it a secondary law, which
was not clear before (see above).
Speaking of humor, the name of this file on-line is "PalmCard final". Just
like the supposed NHTSA statement that was signed, in small print, "Campaigns on
Demand, Inc", the con artists are sometimes unable to resist playing with fire and
putting in a hint of the truth.
What is worrisome about all this is that NHTSA, having
despaired of getting any more states to pass primary seatbelt laws, is now urging
police in states with secondary laws to act as if they had a primary law.
That is, to go ahead and stop people for not wearing a seatbelt. The theory being that
most people are too dumb to know the difference between a primary law and a secondary law,
and, in the case of those who do know the difference, they can always be stopped on some
pretext and then handed a seatbelt ticket. This, of course, is terrible news for the
majority of Americans, who may now experience for the first time what those in
states with primary laws have long endured. We are going to have to keep an eye on this
and see how it plays out.
I