BUCKLE UP: TRAFFIC TICKETS SPECIFY SEAT-BELT LAW VIOLATIONS

Cape Girardeau police Wednesday began issuing a modified traffic ticket that they believe will lead to more seat-belt citations.

The new ticket falls in line with the nationwide seat-belt enforcement campaign of "Buckle Up, Avoid the Summertime Blues."

The ticket will keep police from having to issue a separate ticket for a seat-belt violation. Instead, officers will mark in a box on the original violation ticket whether the motorist was wearing a seat belt, said Sgt. Carl Kinnison.

"I think now that it's just a matter of checking a box and writing in the ordinance number that more citations for seat-belt violations will be issued," said Kinnison.

"Ideally we wouldn't be checking ... the box at all," he said. "If everyone was wearing their seat belt when they were stopped, the number (of citations) would go down, which is what we would like to see."

Kennison said he couldn't guess how many more citations might be issued.

He said the state pursued the changes on the ticket, which is used across Missouri.

Missouri law enforcement agencies were encouraged to begin using drafts of the ticket Wednesday, said a spokeswoman with the state Department of Revenue in Jefferson City. All the agencies draft their forms from the ticket, known as the Missouri Uniform Complaint Summons, she said.

Though being encouraged to start using the tickets, the spokesperson said, agencies may first have to deplete their supplies of former tickets.

Troopers with the Missouri Highway Patrol started using the tickets within the last month. But Sgt. Richard Coffey with the patrol's public information division in Jefferson City said it varied from troop to troop because troopers were asked to deplete old stocks.

For a time, Coffey said, he believes there will be an increase in the number of seat-belt violations cited because officers won't have to write a second ticket.

"There may have been some hesitation on the part of the officer to enforce the seat-belt law," said Coffey, "and this is going to make it easier to do so.

Coffey said the patrol would rather see people use their seat belts more as a result of voluntary compliance and education programs than enforcement. The patrol, he said, tries to encourage people through information and education campaigns that using seat belts is simple and has great benefits for motorists.

Studies of accident statistics have shown that lack of seat-belt use is one of three main causes of fatalities and injuries in vehicle crashes, said Coffey. Drinking drivers and excessive speed, he said, are the other two.

That factor of seat-belt use is one reason behind the change to make it easier to enforce the state's seat-belt law, Coffey said.

J.R. "Buddy" Davis, a Cape Girardeau motorcycle patrolman, said he likes the new tickets, which save a lot of time for both the officer and the motorist receiving the ticket.

A traffic stop, he said, is a bit uncomfortable for the motorist. "They won't be detained nearly as long in those instances. The quicker they're issued their summons and released, the better for them," said Davis.

During 1991, about 10 percent of all traffic tickets written in Cape Girardeau were for seat-belt violations, Kinnison said. From May 21-26, the percentage had risen to 20 percent, he said.

Kinnison said the period marked the kickoff of the "Buckle Up, Avoid the Summertime Blues" campaign. In connection with that campaign, city police officers were encouraged to write more tickets for seat-belt violations.

Authorities said four other minor changes have taken place with the state's uniform traffic ticket. Those changes, they said, include boxes for whether the motorist was driving a commercial vehicle and if it was hauling hazardous materials, if the motorist was involved in a fatal accident, and if the motorist had insurance.