Besides possibly saving your life, there is another reason for motorists to properly wear seatbelts: it’s the law. Over the next two weeks, area police departments will intensify enforcement campaigns. Federal funding will cover extra shifts and overtime so officers can conduct more intensive safety belt enforcement.
Officer Doug Ledbetter is assigned to the Traffic Enforcement Unit with the Eugene Police Department. He says the lack or improper use of seatbelts is still a major factor in the number of vehicle occupant deaths and it’s a ticket worthy offense.
“If a person puts on a seat belt and then puts it under their arm—that is an incorrect usage, which is the same citation as not wearing a seat belt. It’s called misuse of a seatbelt.”
Ledbetter says there will be some EPD officers in plain clothes on street corners who could identify lawbreakers. He says the two week safety blitz also includes enforcement of proper use of child safety seats, speed and distracted driving—especially cellphone use.
