Operation Pullover targets seat-belt slackers

For the next two weeks, not being buckled up likely means a ticket. \nLocal law enforcement agencies are participating in Operation Pullover, a statewide initiative to step up enforcement of seat-belt laws. In Indiana, anyone under 12 or in the front seat of a car must wear a seat belt.\nSince Sunday, officers have patrolled busy intersections throughout the city. At red lights, they pass stopped cars on foot and issue a $25 ticket to any motorist not wearing a seat belt. \nThe Bloomington Police Department has received nearly $40,000 in grant money this year to pay officers to work overtime during peak driving hours. The crackdown runs for two weeks through Labor Day weekend ending Sept. 8.\n"A seatbelt could mean the difference between being injured and being dead," BPD Capt. Mike Diekhoff said. "We're very committed to public safety."\nThe state awards $400,000 annually to local law enforcement agencies. In 2000, it amended the grants with a stipulation that the money be spent on enforcing seat-belt laws. Previously, police spent the funds on purchasing new equipment and other expenses.\nIn 1999, Bloomington police officers wrote just 299 tickets for seat-belt violations. They issued 2,272 the next year.\nAccording to the National Highway Transportation Safety Association, the percentage of Hoosier drivers who buckle up rose from 21.6 percent in 1987 to 62.1 percent in 2000, when the Indiana Supreme Court upheld a law allowing police to ticket motorists for not wearing their seat belts.\nWith the beefed-up enforcement, traffic fatalities in Indiana have dropped 13 percent. \n"We've had the largest decrease in the history of the state," said Jerry McCory, director of the Governor's Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving. "When seat-belt usage goes up, the number of fatalities goes down."\nBut McCory and other officials acknowledge they have a long way to go.\nIndiana scored a D+ for seatbelt use in a recent report from the National Safety Council, a nonprofit organization that researches safety issues. The council gave 18 other states Ds and Fs. \nDiekhoff admits that Hoosiers have a fierce independent streak that causes many to shun buckling up. But he thinks that people are finally beginning to understand the seriousness of wearing a seat belt. \n"Some people think of it as a personal choice," he said. "But statistics show that there are fewer fatalities in traffic accidents when you're wearing a seat belt. Look at Dale Earnhardt -- they're saying he might not have died if his belt hadn't snapped." \nOperation Pullover schedules four two-week blitz periods each year, usually during holidays. The last crackdown -- near Memorial Day in late May -- resulted in more than 500 citation, Diekhoff said.