POLICE NOTE MIXED REACTIONS AT SEAT-BELT SAFETY CHECK

Hundreds of cars filed through the seat-belt Safety Check and Awareness Fair Saturday afternoon in the parking lot of Boatmen's Bank at Mount Auburn Road and Independence.

"I can't help but notice that you're wearing your seat belt, ma'am," said Cape Girardeau police officer Ken Rinehart. "We're stopping people here today to do checks for seat-belt safety and to advise them of current seat-belt-safety laws."

The woman in the car nodded and listened as Rinehart handed her a mug, seat-belt information and an entry form for the grand prize of Saturday's event.

"Believe me, I would never get in my car without (a safety belt)," she reassured the officer before driving on.

A few cars later, reserve officer Kim Gaines exclaimed: "No seat belt? For shame! You need to put that on we'll give you a consolation prize."

The driver put his seat belt on, and was handed a "Buckle Up" key chain and a fake "ticket" to remind him of the state laws about seat belts.

Bettie Dodson of Cape Girardeau came through the checkpoint Saturday afternoon with two other people.

"I usually wear my seat belt; not all the time," she said. "I think the checkpoint is a good idea because it reminds people of what they should be doing anyway."

Joe Merker, who recently moved to Cape Girardeau from Idaho where there is no mandatory seat-belt law said that he was educated by the checkpoint.

"I always wear my seat belt anyway," he said. "I didn't know it was a law here. I guess I'm glad I was wearing it."

Saturday's event was to kick off the "Buckle Up Avoid the Summertime Blues" campaign to promote the use of seat belts throughout the city.

Overtime pay for three, full-time officers who checked cars during the event was provided through a grant from the Missouri Division of Highway Safety. Three reserve officers with the Cape Girardeau police donated their time for the checkpoint.

The state agency also provided some of the money for the mugs, brochures, key chains and "Buckle Up Buddies" that were given out by the officers.

"It's a good program," said Sharee Galnore, coordinator of the police department's community traffic safety division. "This is our second year; we're going to keep doing it as long as the need exists to improve seat-belt awareness."

Cathy Magas, a nurse at Southeast Missouri Hospital and member of the Cape Girardeau Area Safe Kids Coalition, was keeping tabs on the "withs" and "withouts" for the day.

"I was surprised that some of these people weren't wearing their seat belts," she said, referring to a sign warning people they were entering a seat-belt safety checkpoint. The sign was placed a few hundred yards from the entrance of the bank.

"I have seen people who pull their belts over their laps and hold them there," she said. According to Magas' count, about one in every 20 cars that entered the facility had one or more occupants who were not wearing a seat belt.

A few minutes later, a woman pulled up to the checkpoint team of Gaines and Officer Charlie Herbst.

"How long have you been wearing your seat belt?" Gaines asked.

"Since I saw the sign down the road," the woman admitted. Gaines and Herbst gave her a friendly warning and a mug, and sent her on her way.

Officer Danny Niswonger was directing traffic into the bank parking lot.

"Some people don't want to go in there at all," he said. "But others pass by, turn around and come back."

Niswonger directed cars into the lot as the checkpoint officers finished with the cars they were working with, unless, of course, a motorist wanted to go through the checkpoint.

"We don't want to hold anyone up," he said.

People wishing to be further diverted from their journey had the opportunity to visit the Awareness Fair in the bank's rear parking lot.

Area emergency service workers had a fire truck, a rescue vehicle, a police motorcycle, a police car and an ambulance on display for people to look at, pose with, or ask questions about.

There were also information tables set up by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the Cape Girardeau Police Community Traffic Safety Division, and the Safe Kids Coalition.

Several prizes were given away, including T-shirts, can "huggies," key rings, pencils, bumper stickers, note pads and stickers.

Anyone who passed through the safety checkpoint was eligible to enter a drawing for the grand prize of a weekend trip to the Lodge of the Four Seasons at Lake of the Ozarks.

"There's so much to see and so much to do here," one woman said as she was being led across the parking lot by her small child. "What a day."