Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 19, 1993 TAG: 9312190136
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
The 1993 figure was 66 percent, an increase over 62 percent in 1992 and 59 percent in 1991, the first year the survey was done in the current format.
Transportation Secretary Federico Pena said the rise translates into 500 lives saved and more than 14,000 serious injuries avoided in 1993.
"Untold pain and suffering and more than $1 billion in health care and other costs to society also were avoided," he said.
Pena said his goal is to get 75 percent of drivers and passengers to use seat belts by 1997.
He is scheduled to travel to North Carolina on Monday to highlight that state's aggressive enforcement policy, known as "click it or ticket."
Brian O'Neill, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said compliance in North Carolina is about 80 percent due in part to a four-week campaign involving random checkpoints.
"The thing that makes the difference is the law and the extent to which that law is enforced," O'Neill said.
He said part of the national increase also was due to an upgrade in California's seat belt law that made it "primary," meaning law enforcement officers could stop a motorist simply for failure to wear a seat belt.
Only 10 states have the so-called "primary" laws. They are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Texas. - Associated Press
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.