Seat belt usage rising

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Aug 21, 2008 by Tim Carpenter

By Tim Carpenter

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

A survey of Kansans' willingness to buckle up indicated Wednesday that new safety restraint mandates contributed to better compliance among children.

Seventy-five percent of passengers younger than 14 were protected by an appropriate safety seat or belt, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation study. Usage surged from last year's 68 percent, and it was up from 55 percent five years ago.

KDOT Secretary Deb Miller said the latest statistics were encouraging but didn't represent victory in the effort to protect the state's youngest passengers.

"While I'm happy to see the numbers improving," she said, "I don't see how we can feel satisfied as a state when 25 percent of our children are still riding in vehicles unbuckled."

Among counties included in the new survey, Reno County had the best compliance at 89 percent. Montgomery County was lowest at 49 percent. Shawnee County reported 77 percent of children were properly restrained.

Adoption of state laws designed to enhance passenger safety contributed to the better numbers, said Gary Brunk, president and chief executive of Kansas Action for Children.

The state passed a booster-seat law in 2006 and added a seat- belt measure targeting teens in 2007.

Brunk said Kansas lawmakers should implement a graduated driver's license policy, which has been used by other states to cut teen traffic deaths.

The system expands driving privileges for teen drivers in phases.

"There's an opportunity to further improve child passenger safety in Kansas by taking this step to modernize our licensing policy," Brunk said.

The report showed 93 percent of children 0 to 4 were properly restrained and 63 percent of children 10 to 14 were buckled.

Urban motorists were more likely to be in compliance than rural passengers, the report says.

Tim Carpenter can be reached

at (785) 295-1158 or

timothy.carpenter@cjonline.com.