Buckle up or get busted

Not wearing a seat belt won't get drivers in Idaho pulled over.

But in the coming weeks, during a national safety restraint enforcement campaign, Idaho drivers caught without seat belts while violating other rules of the road can count on officers writing seat belt tickets on top of other citations.

So don't hope for a warning.

"There's a no-tolerance policy during this campaign where if you aren't wearing your seat belt, you will receive a citation," Coeur d'Alene Police Sgt. Erik Turrell said Friday afternoon. "They will look harder for a violation on somebody that’s not wearing a seat belt."

The Idaho Transportation Department announced this week that a high-visibility mobilization effort will be in effect from May 16-30 as travel picks up for the Memorial Day holiday. This effort is in conjunction with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's coast-to-coast "Click It or Ticket" enforcement along specific interstate corridors throughout the country.

Although Idaho officers can't pull over drivers for lack of seat belts, they will be paying closer attention to expired registration tags, non-functioning headlights, inattentive driving and anything else that might warrant a citation.

"We understand that the seat belt law is a secondary offense, which means you cannot be pulled over," said ITD public information specialist Steve Grant. "Often times, people do other things that they get pulled over for. This is going to be just one extra ticket."

Grant said one reason ITD encourages people to "click it and not risk it" is that "we know, from our highway safety data, that people and drivers riding in motor vehicles are more likely to walk away from a crash than those who don't wear their seat belts," he said.

"The seat belt is designed to keep people in the crash cage of the car. It is the single most important thing that someone can do to protect themselves when they are out driving."

Turrell, who is CPD's traffic sergeant, said NHTSA data has shown shoulder belts reduce the risk of moderate to critical injury by 50 percent and reduce the risk of fatal injury by 45 percent.

"That's 45 percent. That's huge," he said. "It's a huge safety issue. A lot of people don't know that."

Turrell said citizens can expect to see more patrol cars on the road as well as officers who are dedicated to targeting seat belt violations.

Grant said the seat belt effort will serve as a precursor to an effort known as "The 100 Deadliest Days of Summer," the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day which tends to be a dangerous time of year for drivers.

"The odd thing is, we often see more crashes in the winter, but there are fewer fatalities because speeds are slower because the roads are bad," he said. "We see fewer crashes in the summer, but the fallout of those crashes is worse."

He said three things drivers should do are "always drive aware, never drive impaired and always wear your seat belt."

"Do those three things and it's going to do a whole lot to drive down serious injuries and fatalities," he said.

According to the ITD press release, 93 unrestrained people, including children, were killed in Idaho traffic crashes in 2015.

"Young adults are dying at a disproportionate rate because they are not wearing their seat belts," Sherry Jenkins, of ITD's Office of Highway Safety, said in the release. "Men are dying in vehicle crashes twice as much as women, and wearing their seat belts less than women. Pickup truck occupants think that they don’t need to wear their seat belts because they believe their large vehicle will protect them in a crash. They are dying as well."

Fines for violating Idaho's seat belt laws range from $10-$69. Adults 18 and older are subject to a $10 citation. Adults will be ticketed for passengers younger than 18 who are not properly restrained. If a driver is a minor and not wearing a seat belt or any passengers are not wearing theirs, court costs are added to the fine.

"It's so easy to do," Turrell said. "It's a matter of reaching over and clicking it. The more times you do that, it becomes a habit. Take the two seconds and put it on."