Officials hope to boost seat belt usage in Missouri

It was two years ago today that Scott City, Mo., honor roll student Jessica Arnzen failed to buckle her seat belt for a short trip to school. Minutes after leaving home, she was thrown from the vehicle when her car overturned and died of a broken neck.

Since that day, Jessica's parents, Erv and Lana Arnzen, have promoted the use of seat belts by speaking to youth groups, allowing Jessica's story and car to be used in a public service announcement and talking to people one-on-one.

On Wednesday, the couple met with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Cape Girardeau Police Department and other safety officials to kick off the Missouri Division of Highway Safety's new "Click It, Don't Risk It" seat belt safety campaign. They gathered on Vantage Drive in Cape Girardeau, overlooking Interstate 55, to launch the campaign locally.

"If we can save any other family from the pain that we have gone through, it helps put her death in some kind of perspective, and that helps us cope with our loss," said Lana.

Missouri is below the national average on seat belt usage, according to the division of highway safety. Statistics show that while 75 percent of Americans use seat belts, only 67.91 percent of Missourians buckle up.

Survey due next week

Next week, Missouri will hold its annual driver survey to determine Missouri's current level of safety belt usage. Cape Girardeau County is one of several counties selected at random to participate in that survey.

Among those most at risk of being killed or injured in an automobile crash through non-use of a seat belt are teenage, rural, Hispanic and black motorists.

Recent statistics show that three out of every four teen drivers killed in Missouri automobile crashes over the past six years were not wearing safety belts, and more than half of all fatal crashes now occur in rural areas rather than urban.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Hispanics under 45 years old and for blacks age 14 and younger.

Through memorial funds, the Arnzens raised a new flag pole at the Scott City school football field. They hope it will serve as a visual reminder for students to buckle up.

Missouri's current safety belt laws allow traffic officers to stop drivers for not wearing a seat belt, without any other reason. State and local law enforcement officers will be on a heightened alert for safety belt violations throughout September.

"It is definitely a rural problem as well as an urban problem," said Sgt. Larry Plunkett, public information and education officer with the state highway patrol's Troop E in southeast Missouri. "I would strongly encourage farmers driving to their fields, parents driving their kids to school and teenagers picking up their friends to buckle up. It is obvious that seat belts save lives, but only if we use them."

jgosche@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133