There were 1,038 child passengers under age four injured in Oregon traffic crashes last year. A third of these children were improperly restrained or unrestrained. Last year in Oregon, 61 people died in crashes and were not wearing their safety belts.
Proper use of safety belt and child safety systems can reduce the risk of crash injury by as much as 70 percent or more.
Beginning on Monday, May 20, and running through Sunday June 2, Monday, the Eugene Police Traffic Enforcement Unit will be participating in a statewide enforcement campaign called Click it or Ticket.
Click it or Ticket is a nationwide selective traffic enforcement program that seeks to reduce the number of motor vehicle related deaths and injuries by increasing public awareness of laws regarding safety restraint use during the day and the night. EPD’s Traffic Enforcement Unit would like to remind motorists that seatbelts must be worn in the manner which they are specifically designed in order to be in compliance with the law. Wearing a shoulder belt under your arm is against the law and can result in being issued a citation. Recent USDOT research suggests that nationwide restraint use is lowest at night and that most of Oregon’s unbuckled fatalities happen on weekday afternoons and between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. on weekends.
The Traffic Enforcement Unit also wants to remind motorists of current child safety seat laws. Infants are required to ride in rear-facing safety seats until they reach both one year of age AND twenty pounds. Children over one year old AND between 20 and 40 pounds must be properly secured with a forward-facing child safety seat. Children who weigh more than 40 pounds or who have reached the upper weight limit of their forward-facing child safety seat, must be properly secured in a booster seat until they are 8-years-old OR 4’9” tall. Children who are at least 8 years old or 4’9” tall may graduate to an adult safety belt, but only if it fits them properly.
Additionally, the Traffic Enforcement Unit would like to assist motorists with the proper installation of child safety seats. If you would like to receive assistance with the proper installation of your child safety seats, please call the Eugene Police Traffic Enforcement Unit at 682-5157 to make an appointment.
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