"I'll

never forget the first time I arrived at the

scene of a crash where the victim was an

unbuckled child," said Fayetteville Officer

Mike James. "That is why I am so committed

to these seat belt mobilizations."

Transportation

officials credit the project with helping to move

the nation toward its goal of decreasing child

fatalities by 15 percent by the year 2000. Since

the crackdowns began two years ago, restraint use

percent, and child fatalities have dropped by

12.3 percent, according to the National Highway

Safety Administration.

"Despite

the dramatic increase in child restraint use and

subsequent drop in child fatalities, we still

have work to do," said Janet Dewey,

executive director of the Air Bag and Seat Belt

Safety Campaign. "Deadbeat drivers who fail

to take responsibility for protecting their child

passengers are still placing millions of children

at deadly risk every day," he said.

Traffic

crashes remain the leading cause of death for

children of all races ages 5 - 14. Nearly six of

10 children who die in crashes are unbuckled. Of

those, nearly half would be alive today if an

adult had made sure they were buckled up.

"Today

we are calling on our entire community to adopt

zero tolerance for unbuckled children," said

Fayetteville's Lt. Kirkbride. "No one should

look the other way when they see a child at risk.

Everyone must make sure that relatives, neighbors

and friends know that letting a children ride

unbuckled, not matter how short the ride, is

always life threatening and never worth the

risk."

Georgia's

child restraint law requires that all children

and young adults 17 and younger must be buckled

up while in a motor vehicle, and Georgia's seat

belt law also requires that all front seat

passengers must be buckled up.

The

Fayetteville Police Department also will be

stepping up enforcement of adult seat belt laws,

said Kirkbride, adding that it's a proven fact

that most adults who don't buckle up themselves

don't buckle up their children.

Research

has found that buckled drivers are three times

more likely to restrain child passengers than

drivers who don't buckle up.

"Motorists

who don't wear seat belts are statistically more

likely to be seriously injured or killed in a

traffic crash. During this holiday season, they

will also be more likely to get a ticket,"

said Kirkbride.

In

partnership with law enforcement and state

highway safety offices, the Operation ABC

Mobilization is sponsored by the Air Bag and Seat

Belt Safety Campaign and the National Highway

Safety Administration, and is part of Buckle Up

America, an ongoing national initiative to

increase belt use and save lives of all

Americans.

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