State expands seat-belt campaign

SNOHOMISH COUNTY — The state’s “Click it or Ticket” seat-belt campaign will expand May 21 to include nighttime patrols.

Statewide, 75 law enforcement agencies will participate in the project funded by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission with federal grant money. This includes the Lynnwood and Edmonds police departments as well as the Washington State Patrol.

Lynnwood officers will concentrate on State Route 524 (196th Street Southwest) at 44th Avenue West and 36th Avenue West. Edmonds police will target Highway 99 at 238th Street Southwest and 220th Street Southwest and State Route 104 at 100th Street Southwest.

Patrolling for seat-belt violators is more difficult at night because it is hard to see the seat belt, according to the commission. With the new emphasis, once an unbuckled motorist is spotted, the observing officer will radio ahead to pursuit vehicles to make the stop.

From 2001-05, there were 2,366 vehicle-occupant deaths in the state; 51 percent occurred between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., the commission reports. Although the number of people killed during the night is nearly the same as the number of daytime deaths, the death rate at night is about four to five times higher because traffic volumes are much lower at night.

When Washington’s seat-belt law passed in 1986, only 35 percent of motorists buckled up, according to the commission. When Washington’s primary seat-belt law — which gives law enforcement the authority to pull over unbuckled motorists — became effective in June 2002, seat-belt use in the state rose to between 79 and 82 percent. The “Click it or Ticket” campaign was adopted in 2002 and since that time seat-belt use has risen to about 94 percent, according to the commission figures.