7/29/2019 Making It Click: Day 2 Part 3

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one in town must buckle up the 22,000 residents as well asa larger daytime population ofshoppers and people passingthrough on their way to Vir-ginia Tech in Blacksburg.

With state money, townpolice conduct a homegrown,occupant-protection cam-paign of equal parts educationand enforcement that has wonseveral awards.

No warnings

Christiansburg police areso intolerant of seat belt vio-lations that they do not givewarnings for the offense, apolicy tougher than the oneused by Virginia State Police.

By department policy, eachseat belt law offender who canbe ticketed gets a ticket.

Skeptics may suspect amoney grab. There isnt anymoney in it for the town,however. The state collectseach $25 payment of Virginiasseat belt fine no matter whichlocality writes the ticket.

Occupant protection is apriority at every level of thepolice department hierarchy.Chief Mark Sissons specialrole is to address and sign aletter to each belted driverwho crashes within town lim-its and was neither injured nor

at fault.I wanted to take thisopportunity to thank youfor doing the right thing andbuckling up, the letter says.Your actions possibly helpedprotect you from serious inju-ry, and can also be a lesson forall of us to be mindful of theprotection that a seat belt cangive.

Sisson said he believes hisletter sticks in peoples mindsand can make someone whoisnt a full-time seat belt userinto one.

It changes people and itsa simple letter, he said.

He sent 30 letters betweenNov. 7 and Jan. 9. Because theletters go out in batches, that

is not an indication of howmany crashes there were dur-ing those two months.

Christiansburg got seriousabout seat belts in the fall of2011.

There is no particular per-sonal narrative at the root ofit, but rather frustration witharea motorists who seemed tobe gaming the system.

Each twice-a-year run-ning of the national Click ItOr Ticket campaign in towndrove belting rates higher.They fell after it ended.When the commercials wentaway, the fear of getting a tick-et because of extra enforce-ment went away; the seatbelt usage rate would also go

down because it wasnt some-

thing that stayed in someonesmind, said Maj. Dalton Reid,assistant police chief.

The agency started Takethe Christiansburg Seat BeltChallenge so people wouldbuckle for safety rather thanprimarily to avoid contactwith the police. The culturearound buckling up has sincechanged, Reid and Sisson said.

Positive reinforcement

Under the guise of thechallenge, officers periodi-cally wait in school parkinglots to reward students whoare buckled in their seats asthey arrive. Young childrenhave received lollipops, stick-ers and rulers, while olderyouths have received cou-pons for fast food and gaso-line. Businesses donated the

rewards.The percentage of belteddrivers, which used to slumpinto the mid-80th percentilebetween episodes of Click ItOr Ticket, rose to the low 90sand stayed there, said Reid,who gave the latest tally as93 percent.

The whole purpose of thecampaign is to say, Wear yourseat belt. Its not only neededand necessary and the law, butits appreciated and we recog-nize it because it is importantfor you to get there, Reidsaid.

Police officials acknowl-edge that Christiansburg, atabout 14 square miles, is com-pact, which makes it more

feasible to achieve a high

belting rate through enforce-ment and public awarenessefforts. With a force of 57 offi-cers, the department can reachthe whole community easilycompared with the challengefacing a police force respon-sible for a large county such asPittsylvania, which has closeto 980 square miles.

Seat belt usage is calculatedby a Christiansburg officer orofficers who observe driversat various points in the townand then merge the data toform an estimated rate, Reidsaid. The state seat belt usagerate, in contrast, is more com-prehensive because research-ers observe both drivers andfront-seat passengers. No belt

usage rate available for Vir-ginia covers rear seats.When they take the local

campaign to the streets, Chris-tiansburg police use special-purpose funding from theVirginia Department of MotorVehicles $10,000 during thecurrent fiscal year to payofficers overtime to enforcetraffic laws within town limits.

During special DMV-fund-ed patrols by Christiansburgpolice, officers do not look fordrivers without seat belts orwith children not in a car seatand watch until they commitan offense, even though theobjective is improved occu-pant protection. Instead, theystop drivers for traffic offens-

es generally. That snags plentyof the unbelted.Citations for no seat belt

rose from 537 in 2010 to 837 in2011 and 1,393 in 2012, accord-ing to figures supplied by thedepartment. Christiansburgs2012 ticket count exceededthat of Norfolk, which hasmore than 10 times the popu-lation.

Child-seat violations inChristiansburg were up bymore than half from 2010 to104 in 2012.

State transportation offi-cials are pleased with theresults in Christiansburg. Thetown police department wonthe Governors Transporta-tion Safety Award in 2012 for

its occupant protection work.

505 537

837

1,393Tickets issued forseatbelt violationsin Christiansburg

CLICK IT!

09 10 11 12

The Roanoke TimesSOURCE: ChristiansburgPolice Department

If you get stopped by Virginia State

Police and are not wearing a seat belt,you might end up with only a warning.

In contrast to Christiansburgpolice, who do not give warningsunder an aggressive campaignagainst unbelted travel in town lim-its, Virginia State Police are lessstrict.

Troopers who ticket a driver for aprimary offense also can ticket for aseat belt violation if warranted. How-ever, they cant ticket for the seat beltviolation alone, according to a 2009directive by Col. Steven Flaherty.

When somebody is stopped for aprimary violation and a seat belt viola-tion (or another secondary violationsuch as using windshield wipers with-out headlights), a trooper can ticketfor both, give a warning for both orgive a ticket for the primary violation

and a warning for the secondary viola-tion, the policy states.

Flahertys policy creates uniformi-ty in how troopers enforce secondaryviolations, state police spokeswom-an Corinne Geller said. The VirginiaState Police is not in a position to pickand choose when to enforce one sec-ondary offense over another, shesaid, adding the agency takes seatbelt safety seriously.

Jeff Sturgeon

Seat belts area secondaryconcern in Va.

CHRISTIANSBURG: Policy tough; compliance rewardedFROM 1

SOURCE: Virginia Supreme Court

Emporia 32

Bristol 30

Sussex Co. 27

New Kent Co. 21

Lunenburg 20

Essex Co. 19

Petersburg 19

Montgomery Co.* 19

Giles Co. 18

Galax 17

MOST LEAST

Alexandria 0.5

Charlottesville 0.8

Floyd Co. 1.1

Highland Co. 1.3

Newport News 1.4

Loudoun Co. 1.5

Middlesex Co. 1.6

Mathews Co. 1.9

Nelson Co. 2.1

Staunton 2.7

The Roanoke Times

Tickets issued for seat belt violations (January to November 2012)

Per 1,000 population

WHOS GIVING TICKETS FOR FAILING

TO BUCKLE UP IN VIRGINIA?

*Includes the totals from Christiansburg

MATT GENTRY | The Roanoke Times

Christiansburg Police Chief Mark Sisson addresses and signs a letter to each belted driver whocrashes within town limits and was neither injured nor at fault. Sisson said he believes his lettersticks in peoples minds and can make someone who isnt a full-time seat belt user into one.

CHRISTINA OCONNOR | Special to The Roanoke Times

Officer Donnie Cromer gathers information after stopping a driver for a moving traffic violation in Christiansburg. During special DMV-funded patrols byChristiansburg police, officers stop drivers for traffic offenses generally and snag plenty of the unbelted. Christiansburg police are so intolerant of seat beltviolations that they do not give warnings for the offense, a policy tougher than the one used by Virginia State Police. Skeptics may suspect a money grab.There isnt any money in it for the town, however. The state collects each $25 payment of Virginias seat belt fine no matter which locality writes the ticket.

MAKING IT CLICKL I VES O N TH E L I N E

The whole purpose of thecampaign is to say, Wear yourseat belt. Its not only needed andnecessary and the law, but itsappreciated and we recognize itbecause it is important for you toget there.

Maj. Dalton Reid,Christiansburg assistant police chief

CHIEFS LETTER

CHANGES PEOPLEI wanted to takethis opportunityto thank you fordoing the rightthing and bucklingup. Your actionspossibly helpedprotect you fromserious injury,and can also bea lesson for all ofus to be mindful ofthe protection thata seat belt can

give.

THE ROANOKE TIMES 5Monday, February 25, 2013