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PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Despite Michigan's stringent
child restraint laws, nearly 507,000 motorists transported unrestrained
children in motor vehicles during 1998. As a result, 107 children died
in motor vehicle crashes, and 12,097 suffered crash-related injuries.
Alarmed at the magnitude of these avoidable deaths and injuries to children,
Michigan's law enforcement community committed their efforts to developing
an effective program of enforcement and public education to promote
the use of seat belts and child safety seats for Michigan children.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The Click It. Don't
Risk It. campaign was initiated by the Michigan State Police (MSP)
in 1999 to provide high visibility and zero tolerance enforcement of
the state's child restraint laws. The program is a cooperative effort
among police agencies statewide to reduce deaths and injuries to children
that result from not using occupant restraint systems. Specific campaign
objectives are to:
- Convince the public that
drivers transporting improperly restrained children will be stopped
and given citations
- Provide training to law
enforcement officers on Michigan's current child restraint laws
- Educate police officers
on the proper use of child restraint devices
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The message to motorists presented by the Click
it. Don't Risk It. campaign, is that by simply "clicking" the seat
belt or child safety seat when transporting children, a child's risk
of injury or death in a motor vehicle crash is greatly reduced. Law
enforcement officials also sought statewide publicity to help inform
the public that they would take a zero tolerance approach to enforcing
Michigan's child restraint laws, and that failure to properly restrain
a child would consistently result in a ticket.
The campaign consists of three enforcement waves,
or mobilizations, two conducted in 1999, and the final wave in 2000.
Each of the waves lasts two weeks; the first week consisting of a pre-enforcement
media campaign, and the second week for enforcement and a media campaign.
Click it. Don't Risk It. mobilizations include:
- MAY 1999 MOBILIZATION: A total of 322 Michigan
law enforcement agencies participated in the enforcement effort
- THANKSGIVING MOBILIZATION: This enforcement effort
took place November 22-28, 1999, corresponding with the busiest travel
days of the year
- CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY WEEK MOBILIZATION:
This wave is scheduled to coincide with Child Passenger Safety Week,
February 6-19, 2000
After each enforcement wave, participating police
departments forward citation data to the MSP district traffic safety
sergeant. The district traffic safety sergeant forwards data to the
MSP Traffic Services Section, where it is compiled and analyzed, and
available for public release within seven days. Incentives are offered
to participating police departments, and a recognition banquet will
be held in Spring 2000.
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