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Transportation and Public Works
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Safety Belts Sept. 16, 2004
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Seatbelt message is elusive one
Editorial, The Guardian
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Everybody knows that seatbelts save lives, but it's still shocking
to look at just how many lives are lost because some people insist
on not wearing them.
So far this year, there have been five deaths from passenger vehicle
accidents in which people were not wearing seatbelts.
That's 24 Islanders in the last 30 months, who would very likely be
alive today if they had taken a second to buckle up.
That's why we're encouraged to hear that P.E.I.'s Highways
department is toughening up its approach to seatbelt enforcement.
Under new measures being put forward by Transportation and Public
Works Minister Gail Shea, people caught driving without seatbelts
would earn demerit points. If they collect enough demerits,
these people face the prospect of being banned from driving by a
license suspension.
Shea is also talking about increasing the fines imposed on people
who fail to use seatbelts. Right now the minimum fine for
driving without a seatbelt is $50 but Highway's officials seem taken
with the example of the province of Manitoba where it dealt with the
seatbelt compliance rate by hiking fines to a minimum of $250 per
offence.
If Islanders knew that four seatbelt violations would cost them
$1000 and their driving privileges, odds are that they would be a
little less cavalier about using seatbelts.
As it stands now, Prince Edward Island trails the national average
for seatbelt use. Around 81 per cent of us buckle up
regularly, compared to 85 per cent nationwide. But in some
rural areas rate of seatbelt use is much lower, less than 60
percent.
The worst rate of seat belt use is among men under the age of 30
who own half-ton trucks. Apparently truck lovers have a belief
that the size of their vehicle will protect them in a collision, but
highway officials say that's a false belief. The safest place
to be in a traffic accident is anchored in place, not tossed around
loose. Once somebody has been thrown through a windshield it
doesn't matter much if the windshield was in a Mack Truck or a Mini
Cooper.
The fact is that seatbelts help people survive traffic accidents.
Most of us acknowledge that fact and wear them. For too many
people, though, survival isn't a strong enough motive to get them
to buckle up. For them, Gail Shea is adding the strong
incentive of fines and driving suspensions. We can only hope
that the minister's actions scare a few more Islanders into
protection their own lives, for both their sake and the sake of
their families. |
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