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CHOICE Supports Crackdown on Drivers Who Don't Buckle-Up Kids

20 November 1998

CHOICE Supports Crackdown on Drivers Who Don't Buckle-Up Children in Autos

    CHICAGO, Nov. 19 -- Community Health Choice (CHOICE), an
Illinois Managed Care Organization serving Medicaid eligible persons, today
announced its support of a national mobilization this Thanksgiving holiday to
protect children by stepping up enforcement of child passenger safety laws.
    CHOICE Executive Director Theodore W. Dixon, III, said his company joins
over 1,000 civic and advocacy organizations nationwide that endorse the
intensive, 50-state lifesaving enforcement effort over the holiday.
    "We in the managed care industry are aware that traffic crashes are the
leading cause of death and injury to children ages 0-15 years of age," Dixon
said.  "Each year, six out of ten of the children who die in crashes are
unbelted.  Tragically, nearly half of these unbuckled children would be alive
today if only they had been properly restrained.
    "We at CHOICE support the efforts of the 5,000 law enforcement agencies
nationwide and the 'Operation ABC Mobilization:  America Buckles Up Children'
program to protect our children during the Thanksgiving holiday.  The law
requires that all children be buckled up at all times.  If they're not,
drivers should get a ticket.  No exceptions, no excuses."
    Thanksgiving Operation ABC Mobilization came on the heels of an extremely
successful Mobilization last Memorial Day, according to Dixon.  The National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration's observational surveys before and after
the May Mobilization showed six million more people buckling up.
    "If these Americans continue to use their seat belts, approximately 670
lives will be saved each year," Dixon said.  "In addition, a survey by the
National Safety Council showed fatalities went down by more than 35 percent
during the Memorial Day holiday."
    "Officers in Illinois and across America will be out in force this holiday
protecting children from the greatest risk they face -- being unrestrained in
a crash."
    Operation ABC Mobilization is co-sponsored and organized by the Air Bag &
Seat Belt Safety Campaign, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and is part of the Buckle Up
America Campaign -- an ongoing national, safety initiative to increase seat
belt use and save the lives of Americans.  The Mobilization is supported by
the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs
Association, Operation CARE and the National Organization of Black Law
Enforcement Executives.