Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Pennsylvania law requires everyone in a moving vehicle to wear a seat belt.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
FARRELL, Pa. -- Local police, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, are cracking down on seat-belt use in motor vehicles.
Southwest Mercer County Regional Police set up a demonstration of Operation "Mini-Cade" in front of the city building on Roemer Boulevard on Tuesday to demonstrate what they'll be doing.
Roy Wilt Jr., PennDOT safety officer, said the "Mini-Cade" program is a passive method of encouraging people to use their seat belts.
It involves setting up a seat-belt check sign along a road and parking a cruiser nearby with its emergency lights flashing.
One or more police officers then stand near the location just to observe passing traffic to see if people are wearing their seat belts.
An effective tool
Motorists won't be stopped but the "Mini-Cade" has proved to be effective in encouraging people to buckle up, he said.
Police Chief Riley Smoot said an organization known as Buckle Up Pennsylvania has provided his department with a $2,500 grant to pay for officers' time for the "Mini-Cade" as well as some more aggressive enforcement of the law that requires everyone in a moving motor vehicle to wear a seat belt.
The department has secured "Click It or Ticket" warning tickets that officers will be handing out to motorists at key locations where there is a lot of traffic, Smoot said.
That includes Farrell High School, UPMC Horizon and Duferco Farrell Corp. at shift changes, he said.
Finally, officers will do saturation patrols where they will actually be stopping cars at traffic safety checkpoints, looking for drunken drivers and those not wearing seat belts, Smoot said.
The whole campaign kicks off Friday in conjunction with the state's "Operation Safe Holiday" over the Memorial Day weekend, he said.