REMEMBER TO BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELT

This past week -- appropriately, the week before the traffic fatalities of the Memorial Day weekend -- there was a nationwide push to encourage the use of seat belts by motorists and their passengers. In this area, the good news is that an estimated 78 percent of drivers use seat belts regularly, a recent survey shows. The bad news is that too many parents ignore the state law in Missouri that requires children riding in vehicles to be in special child safety seats.

The Cape Girardeau Safe Communities Program promotes safety in general, but the use of seat belts and child safety seats are of particular interest. Statistics for 1996, the latest figures available, show there were 1,192 people nationwide who were killed in traffic accidents in Missouri. Of those, 75 percent were not wearing seat belts.

The statistical odds are a grim reminder of the why wearing seat belts is considered a life-saving habit: Your chance of dying in an automobile accident is 1 in 85 if you don't have your seat belt fastened. The odds improve to 1 in 1,408 if you are wearing a seat belt and are involved in an accident.

Many parents also try to improve the odds for their young children by using child safety seats. But many parents tend to become more lax when their infants turn into toddlers. And many child safety seats are improperly used, which provides a false sense of protection. Careful attention to safety seat instructions would go a long way in providing real protection.

The Safe Communities Program is working to make safety seats available to families that can't afford them. The program also can provide instructions on the proper use of the seats.

This Memorial Day weekend, take every precaution possible -- including the proper use of seat belts and safety seats.