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American Morning

Ticket or Click It

Aired May 21, 2001 - 11:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: OK, tell the truth, just how good are you about buckling up? A new report says millions of Americans ride without strapping on their seat belts every day. CNN's Jeanne Meserve is in Washington with details on that report -- Jeanne?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, if you are traveling this weekend, are not buckled up, there may be a traffic ticket with your name on it in your future. Thousands of law enforcement agencies are taking part in the National Safety Council's Ticket or Click It campaign. That means more traffic patrols and seat belt checkpoints. Drivers in eight southeastern states will be the primary targets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN MCMILLAN, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL: We have people that simply are not buckling up even though everybody is aware that is the most powerful way to save lives in vehicles. And those people are the ones we're trying to reach, not just in the southeast, but throughout the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: More than 32,000 people were traffic fatalities in 1999. The National Safety Council estimates that more than 9,500 would have survived had they worn seat belts. The group released a report today showing seat belt compliance rates are unacceptably low. More than 60 million Americans, including 15 million children, ride unbuckled each year, increasing their risk of bodily harm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK HURLEY, NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL: Recently, some have described seat belt violations as minor traffic offenses. People who do that probably have not been with law enforcement late at night when they've had to pull kids out of cars and make late night phone calls to the homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: AAA estimates that more than 28 million people will be on the road this Memorial Day Weekend. And Kyra, on average, on an average day, rather, there's one fatality every 12 minutes. Back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jeanne, now what makes this campaign so much different from other ones?

MESERVE: Well, in terms of the advertising campaign, there's now acknowledgement that the old click your belt and be safe campaigns really weren't working and are essentially a waste of scarce highway dollars. This campaign -- and they are spending $3.75 million on advertising -- will focus on the penalty part of it. If you don't buckle up, you're going to get a ticket. They are hoping that that will do more to change behavior -- Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jeanne Meserve in Washington, thank you.

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