March 13, 2003

Michigan State Police Director Colonel Tadarial J. Sturdivant is singling out a teen driver and his passengers – as positive role models. As Michigan marks the third anniversary of the primary safety belt law, Sturdivant plans to recognize the trio with a special certificate, recognizing what is becoming increasingly more common in Michigan – safety belt use is significantly driving down fatalities and injuries.

Robin and Bruce Pannecouk of Howell won’t soon forget the panicked phone call they received after their teenaged son’s truck careened off a dirt road and struck a tree last spring. It was the kind of phone call that ices a parent’s veins as their distraught son relayed scant details, the location, and that friends were with him when he crashed into the tree.

The couple was off in a flash, eager to close the now monstrous gap between home and Lansing, trying to keep their worst fears at bay.

It turned out to be the last trip … for the truck. But the teenagers, thankfully, were all wearing safety belts. And aside from bumps, scratches and the scare of a lifetime, all were fine. The Pannecouk’s son, Devon, is one of many Michigan residents who escaped serious injury because of safety belt use.

“We’re still looking at preliminary numbers for 2002, but it appears that traffic fatalities will be under 1,300 in our state,” Sturdivant said. “We credit the primary safety belt law for helping to bring that number down.”

The primary enforcement law, which took effect in March 2000, allows officers to stop a vehicle based on the safety belt violation alone. Prior to March 2000, officers were operating under a secondary enforcement law, which meant they could only issue a safety belt citation if a stop was made for another traffic offense. Research shows that states with primary enforcement laws generally have higher safety belt use rates than states with secondary laws.

In 1999, when Michigan had a secondary enforcement law, 1,386 people died in traffic crashes. In 2001, that number had fallen to 1,328. The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) estimates nearly 200 lives have been saved in the state since the primary law took effect in March 2000. Further, nearly 1,250 serious injuries have been averted in the same time period.

Michigan now has one of the highest safety belt use rates in the country, recording 82.9 percent use in 2002, slightly lower than the all-time high of 83.5 percent set when the law changed March 10, 2000.

An UMTRI analysis also shows that without primary enforcement, Michigan’s safety belt use rate would have been 7.5 percent lower than the current rate: 75.4 percent in 2002. UMTRI also credits the law with having a greater impact on Michigan’s traditionally low safety belt use groups: passengers, Wayne County residents, pickup truck occupants, men and young people.

A more in-depth review of crash statistics reveals the safety belt law is also having an impact on alcohol-related fatalities. Because belt use has increased, there is also a drop in alcohol-involved fatalities.

“Don’t expect us to rest on our laurels,” Sturdivant added. “Other states – California, Washington, Hawaii – have reached 90 percent belt use and higher. Our goal is the same. We make no apologies for zero tolerance enforcement of the safety belt law.”

Click it or Ticket is Michigan’s campaign to highlight safety belt enforcement crackdowns, which happen nationally over Memorial Day and Thanksgiving holiday periods.

Motorists should expect a record number of Michigan law enforcement agencies participating this spring and summer, said Betty J. Mercer, division director of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, a division of Michigan State Police.

She said plans are already underway to make the next mobilization the state’s most visible effort to date. Details of that mobilization will be announced in May.

Read more press releases from the Michigan State Police.