State slips from top spot in obeying seat-belt laws

“Dang!” said M.J. Haught.

Haught, communications manager with the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, was reporting by e-mail that our state is no longer tops when it comes to motorists and passengers obeying seat-belt laws.

Observational studies nationwide have shown that Washington’s rate — 96.5 percent last year — is the highest it’s ever been, after five years of steady improvement.

But Michigan and Hawaii beat us out, with 97. 2 and 97.0 respectively, said Haught.

All the same, “Washington has come a long way,” said John Moffat, this region’s administrator with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “In 1986 only 36 percent of vehicle occupants were using seat belts.”

In 2002, Moffat said in a bulletin, a more strict seat-belt law took effect in Washington, allowing police to stop a car just because of a seat-belt violation.

The rate then was 83 percent.

“Since then, year after year improvement has made Washington one of the top three states in the nation,” Moffat said.

Some people still don’t like being told to wear seat belts, but there are good reasons to buckle up, including the fact that unbuckled people get hurt worse in crashes.

Looking just at the money, not the pain, “An unbelted vehicle occupant’s medical costs average $11,000 more per collision than those of a belted vehicle occupant’s,” the bulletin said.

State troopers and other police officers have been enforcing seat belt laws with the Click it or Ticket program for years.

That effort was increased in early 2007, when the safety administration selected Washington for a three-year project to educate motorists and enforce the law at night, when the crash-death rate is about four times higher than during the day.

Traffic officers, using special overtime funds from the government, typically have a spotter at busy ramps who watches for violations, then radios officers waiting nearby in marked patrol cars and motorcycles.

In Vancouver, such crackdowns net large numbers of tickets issued — and arrests made for other violations such as DUI.

“We’re pleased to see the whole campaign is paying off,” said Lowell Porter, director of the traffic safety commission.

To learn more, visit the commission’s site at www.wtsc.wa.gov.

John Branton: 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.