Henderson police target seat belt use for teens

By Mary Manning

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008 | 4:37 p.m.

Traffic officers with the Henderson Police Department and other law enforcement agencies throughout the state will begin targeting and educating teens who aren't buckling up.

Once the school year started and with football games each Friday night, teen drivers are on the roadways in higher numbers, police said. Henderson officers want all teen drivers and passengers to know that police will be on the streets making sure seat belts are being used.

Officers will hit the streets starting Wednesday for the next two weeks looking for teenage drivers and passengers not wearing their seat belts.

Traffic officers will use saturation patrols throughout Henderson to stop vehicles for traffic violations and then check for seat belt use. Seat belt violations are a secondary offense in Nevada. Each passenger, even backseat passengers, must wear seat belts.

The officers will use the enforcement to help educate teens about the dangers of not buckling up.

Officers can reward teens found wearing their seat belts with music download cards and other prizes.

Studies indicate non-seat belt users are more likely to buckle up to avoid getting a ticket than from possible injury or death from a crash, police said. Seat belts help prevent drivers and passengers from being thrown from a vehicle during a crash. Victims of auto accidents are four times more likely to die if ejected during an accident.

Car crashes are the leading cause of fatalities among teens in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 2006, 34 Nevada drivers and passengers, ages 16 to 20 years old, were killed in motor vehicle crash. Of the total, 20 teens were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the fatal crash.

The Henderson Traffic Unit received funding from the Nevada Department of Public Safety-Office of Traffic Safety as part of a Joining Forces grant.