By Jason Bergreen
The Salt Lake Tribune
Law enforcement officials are bracing for Memorial Day with a focus on teen driver safety, and hope the holiday weekend isn’t a repeat of the past seven deadly days.
Since May 17, 13 people have died on Utah’s highways and roads. Among them, four young children and three teens. Of the motorists, five of those wearing seat belts died; the other three were not wearing seat belts.
Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Blaine Robbins said just because you have a seat belt on doesn’t mean something really bad can’t happen to you on the road. “Can you still be wearing a seat belt and be killed? You bet you can,” he said. “But over half of the people [in accidents] that don’t wear seat belts are killed.”
“We definitely hope we have a good weekend where things go smoothly and we have no fatalities,” added UHP spokesman Cameron Roden.
To help promote responsible driving, the Utah Highway Safety Office kicked off the Click It or Ticket program Tuesday. This year’s campaign emphasizes safety among teen drivers and buckling up during the day and at night, said program manager Kristy Rigby.
Police will ticket any motorist under 19 for not buckling up, and those 19 and over will be cited if they are stopped for another infraction and are not wearing a seat belt. The fine: $45.
Memorial Day weekend has proved to be the least deadly holiday for Utah motorists in the past two years, with only four fatalities. That is compared with 18 fatal crashes over the Thanksgiving holiday and 12 over Labor Day weekend during the same period.
But 355,000 Utahns are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home during the extended weekend, which kicked into full swing Friday. Despite higher gasoline prices, that figure is only a 0.1 percent decrease in motorists from last year, according to AAA.
Roden said the Click It or Ticket education and enforcement program works. “I believe so,” he said. “Our seat belt usage in the state has gone up.”
Since the Click It or Ticket program was introduced nine years ago, Utah motorists have increased their seat-belt use from 67.4 percent in 1999 to 86.8 percent in 2007, according to the Utah Highway Safety Office. That puts Utahns above the national average of 82 percent and ranks them 21st when compared to other states.
“Your best defense against a drunk driver is to buckle up,” Rigby said. Farrer Elementary School Principal Don Dowdle said his staff talks to students about seat-belt safety. Even so, tragedy struck his school last weekend.
On May 18, 7-year-old Daniel Lopez and 8-year-old Jennifer Lopez of Provo died after being thrown from a car when it collided with a pickup truck in Provo Canyon. No one in the car, including the children’s mother, Maria Ruiz, who was driving and survived, was wearing a seat belt, police said.
“We have talked to the kids about seat belts during classes,” said Dowdle. ''We understand that neither Daniel or Jennifer were wearing seat belts. . . . [People] need to take time to be safe.’'
More than $1,500 was raised at Farrer Elementary School to help pay for the children’s funeral costs. A fund in Maria Ruiz’s name is expected to be set up at Washington Mutual at 301 N.University Avenue in Provo.
The goal of Click It or Ticket, Rigby said, is to come into the office on Tuesday and not see any fatal traffic reports on the fax machine.
“We hope that everyone reaches their destination and everybody gets home safely,” she said.