Police target seatbelts violations (with fine breakdown)

Last fall, a Baker teen was thrown from a friend’s truck in an accident that cost him his right arm. Last month a Florala resident died after he crashed into a concrete culvert near Laurel Hill. A 29-year-old DeFuniak Springs man was critically injured when he crashed his SUV into a tree in Dorcas last summer. All three shared something in common.

None were wearing seatbelts.

It is precisely to prevent these tragedies that the Crestview Police Department and Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office have joined their fellow law enforcement agencies across the country to emphasize the importance of seatbelt use and enforce it, officials said.

The national “Click It or Ticket” campaign started March 1 and runs through Monday.

Crestview police officers promise their enforcement efforts will not end when the “Click It or Ticket” campaign ends March 15, however.

“We enforce seatbelt violations throughout the year,” said Officer Lucas Kraus. “It’s very important to wear a seatbelt. Most injuries and fatalities occur because people weren’t wearing their seatbelt.”

Although both law officers and emergency medical responders praise the life-saving and injury preventative benefits of seatbelt use, many drivers, for any number of reasons, still don’t use them.

“To be honest, there is no excuse for not wearing your seatbelt,” said Kraus after pulling over a motorist during a traffic patrol on March 3. “She obviously knew she was not wearing her seatbelt.”

Kraus explained that whether a driver is ticketed for a seatbelt violation depends on several factors, including previous traffic offenses.

“Officers have discretion to issue a citation or a written warning or a verbal warning,” he said. Looking up the woman’s driving record in his onboard computer, he found several recent violations. Coupled with the driver’s confession that she was not wearing a seatbelt, Kraus’s decision was easy.

“She’s getting a ticket,” he said. “Sometimes it’s the only way people will fix the problem.”

The addition of a seatbelt violation on a motorist’s driving record, when coupled with the fine that accompanies it, can be a strong reminder to fasten the seatbelt when hopping into the car, Kraus indicated.

“Fines for a seatbelt violation — it’s a non-moving violation — it’s $108,” he said. “It’s definitely a hefty fine.”

Critics have said the seatbelt infractions are enforced as a means to beef up coffers.

Kay Kilgore, the traffic supervisor for Okaloosa County Clerk of Court, said that is not true.

“The money is all given to the state,” Kilgore said. “The state manages the money.”

Kilgore said her office receives “a small allocation,” $3 to be precise, for every seatbelt violation citation written by local law officers. The Crestview Police Department receives even less; $2 for each ticket goes to “local law enforcement education.” The remaining $103 goes to the state, Kilgore said.

Some of it may return to Okaloosa County in the form of grants and public works projects, Kilgore said, depending on how the various components of the fine are allocated. Of the $108 total, only $30 represents the actual safety belt violation fine. Various beneficiaries of the balance include causes ranging from the Child Welfare Training Trust and the Florida Endowment Foundation to the Epilepsy Trust Fund.

Last Wednesday, despite patrolling one of Crestview’s most heavily traveled stretches of road — between Aplin Road and John King Road — for two and a half hours, Kraus pulled over only four seatbelt violators. Two were ticketed, while two received written warnings.

“During Click it or Ticket, we’re definitely trying to find seatbelt violations, but there is a good feeling when you can’t find a lot of them,” Kraus said.

One of the motorists who received a warning was actually wearing her seatbelt, but didn’t have it on correctly, Kraus observed.

“She was wearing her seatbelt, but she had the shoulder strap tucked under her arm, which doesn’t really do anything if you’re in an accident,” Kraus said. “The shoulder strap is designed to keep the upper part of your body against the seat. If it’s tucked under her arm, she’s still going to whiplash forward and maybe hit her head on the steering wheel or the windshield even.”

A review of the driver’s record showed no previous traffic violations. Because she cooperated and was following the spirit, if not the letter of the law, Kraus chose to issue her a warning. He could as easily have ticketed her.

“It is definitely a violation of the seatbelt law,” he said. “Even though it was on, it was worn improperly. It has to be worn properly, the way it was designed to be worn.”

Another warning was issued to Joshua Hodges, who had just pulled out of his apartment complex entrance onto South Ferdon Boulevard and had not yet fastened his seatbelt when Kraus pulled up behind him.

“I always wear seatbelt, but I just pulled out of my apartment and he got me,” Hodges said. “I feel very fortunate I just got a warning. I’m going to keep that belt on.”

Behind the Big Lots shopping center where Hodges was pulled over is the emergency room of the North Okaloosa Medical Center. Its doctors, technicians and nurses see more mangled victims of vehicle accidents than they wish, hospital officials said. Many of the injuries they treated would have been prevented had the victims simply fastened his or her seatbelt, they cautioned.

“It is well documented throughout emergency medicine literature that seat belts do significantly reduce the loss of life and degree of severe injury,” said Dr. Joseph Heflin, Emergency Department medical director at NOMC. “In an automobile accident, most often the body maintains movement until it comes into contact with the dashboard, steering wheel or windshield. Research provides us with the basic knowledge that seat belts save lives.”

Law enforcement officers like Kraus and his colleague Melissa Long, who issued three seatbelt violation citations during the same period Kraus was on patrol, believe their presence and the increased awareness of the national Click It or Ticket campaign contribute to a decrease in traffic accident-related business at Heflin’s ER.

“All the hard work we’re putting into awareness is paying off and people are starting to use their seatbelts and obey the seatbelt law,” Kraus said. “Even though we come out here and issue citations to people, a lot of them are thankful for the job that we do. It’s always a good feeling.”

Where does the fine money go?

Okaloosa County Clerk of Courts Traffic Supervisor Kay Kilgore provided a breakdown of how a $108 seatbelt violation fine is distributed:

Components of the $108 fine

$30: Seatbelt violation fine

$76: Non-moving traffic infraction

$2: Law enforcement education

$30 seatbelt violation breakdown:

$11.38: Traffic fines

$3: PRM Trust Fund fines

$1: Child Welfare Training Trust Fund

$5: Epilepsy Trust Fund

$.40: Florida Endowment Foundation Trust Fund

$1.64: Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries Trust Fund

$1.02: Clerk of Criminal Justice Trust Fund

$1.44: Emergency Medical Trust Fund

$4.12: Florida Dept. of Revenue

$1: Juvenile Justice Trust Fund

$76 non-moving traffic infraction breakdown:

$12.50: Traffic administrative costs

$2: Traffic non-moving cost

$30: Traffic Court Facility Fund

$3: State PA

$1.67: Public Defender revenue

$3.33: State attorney revenue

$5: State courts revenue

$18.50: Traffic costs

Ride along with Officer Lucas Kraus and learn how a Crestview Police patrolman determines who receives a ticket and who doesn’t via exclusive video on our Web site at www.crestviewbulletin.com.