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Public Support Shown For Enforcement of Child Safety Seat Laws

21 May 1998

New Louis Harris Poll Reaffirms Public Support For Heightened Enforcement of Child Safety Seat Laws

    WASHINGTON, May 21 -- Americans want strong enforcement of
child safety seat and safety belt laws, according to a recent Louis Harris
public opinion poll.  The poll, which was commissioned by Advocates for
Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates), shows that an overwhelming 90% of
Americans favor stronger enforcement of laws that require all children to be
buckled up.
    "In polling, 90% is as close to unanimous as you get," said Louis Harris,
President of Harris Polling, who conducted the poll.  "Legislators and the
public safety community should listen closely to these results and continue to
enforce the laws because there is such strong public demand for it."
    The results of the survey of 1,001 Americans are being released prior to
the Memorial Day Weekend as part of the Buckle Up America Campaign.  This
weekend concludes a week-long enforcement blitz of child safety seat and
safety belt use laws as part of Operation ABC (America Buckle Up Children)
sponsored by the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign.  The goal of Operation
ABC is to save the lives of children through stepped up enforcement of child
safety seat laws.
    "We know that if parents buckle up, kids are more likely to buckle up,"
said Judith Lee Stone, President of Advocates.  "That's why it's also
important that we give some teeth to many weaker adult safety belt laws and
strongly enforce them."
    Currently, 49 states have safety belt laws but only 14 states and the
District of Columbia have "standard enforcement" safety belt laws that allow
police to ticket motorists simply for failure to buckle up.  The remaining
states have weaker "secondary" enforcement laws which only allow an officer to
write a ticket for a safety belt violation after pulling the motorist over for
another offense such as speeding or running a red light.
    States with "standard" enforcement belt laws experience higher safety belt
use rates, as much as 15 percentage points more than secondary law states.
    Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is an alliance of consumer, safety,
law enforcement, public health and insurance organizations working to reduce
deaths and injuries on our nation's highways.  For more information on
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, please visit the organization's World
Wide Web site at http://www.saferoads.org.