BY KEVIN ALDRIDGE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Sixty-three children under the age of 16 were killed in automobile accidents last year in Ohio. More than half of them - 39 - were not properly restrained.
Starting Monday, several Tristate police agencies will join 5,000 other law enforcement agencies from across the country in the largest-ever coordinated crackdown on child passenger safety laws.
Operation ABC Mobilization: America Buckles Up Children will take place throughout Thanksgiving week, Monday through Nov. 29.
The goal of the seat belt blitz: saving lives.
"We know that during the holidays there are so many extra people out on the roadways traveling at risk," said Janet Dewey, executive director of the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign.
"Hopefully through this effort, we can save some of those lives."
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Participating police agencies
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Area police agencies participating in the seat belt crackdown:
Amberley Village
Cincinnati
Clermont County
Colerain Township
Forest Park
Hamilton County
Lebanon
Loveland
Mason
Montgomery County Sheriff's Office
New Richmond
Norwood
Ohio State Highway Patrol.
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The mobilization, sponsored by more than 1,000 civic, corporate and advocacy organizations nationwide, is the second of its kind this year. The first blitz - done in May around Memorial Day - resulted in 6 million more people buckling up and saved an estimated 670 lives, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In addition, a survey by the National Safety Council showed a 36 percent drop in fatalities when compared with the same period a year ago.
Fourteen Cincinnati-area police agencies will participate in next week's effort.
"We want to send a clear message to (drivers) that the law requires that children be buckled up at all times," Mason Police Sgt. Paul Lindenschmidt said. "If they're not, drivers will get a ticket. No exceptions. No excuses."
Ohio's child passenger safety law requires that all children under the age of 4 and weighing less than 40 pounds be restrained in a child safety seat. Officers will be out in full force stopping vehicles looking for child passenger safety violations, Ms. Dewey said.
Drivers failing to properly restrain children could face fines up to $150.
"Crashes are the leading cause of death to American children," Ms. Dewey said. "Each year, six out of ten children killed in crashes are not properly restrained. Tragically, nearly half of these children were completely unbuckled."
Last year in the country, 1,244 children killed in car crashes were not wearing restraints. Only nine other states had the same or more children killed than Ohio because they weren't buckled up.
Many police departments will have officers on the road carrying child safety seats with them while on patrol. Many departments will lend out the seats to any violator ticketed during the crackdown. Police agencies also will be stepping up enforcement of adult seat-belt laws.
