Seat belt push begins

BEVERLY -- The Ohio State Highway Patrol, Beverly Volunteer Fire Department, Beverly-Wateford Rescue Squad and the Beverly Village Police Department gathered Monday to kick off the "Click it or Ticket" campaign and talk about seat belt safety at the Beverly VFD.

Lt. Chris Chesar, Marietta Post Commander of the OSHP, said there has recently been a series of bad crashes, including fatalities, on Ohio 339. He said because of these crashes he has realized that there is a problem with people wearing their seat belts in the area.

"So when you see crashes like that happening, it really reinforces the importance of somebody wearing their seat belt," he said. "So I teamed up with the chief of the police department, the fire department and the rescue (squad) to get together to stress the importance of seat belt safety."

Chesar said there will be strict seat belt and car seat enforcement starting now through the month of June. He said there will also be public service announcements during this time to try to educate people on the importance of wearing seat belts. He said during the next few weeks officers will be issuing tickets to help reinforce seat belt and car seat usage.

"I've worked several fatals with highway patrol in the past year," said Beverly Village Police Department Chief Todd Bumbalough. "A lot of times the people we find that have passed away in these crashes, if they had their seat belt on they'd still be with us."

Beverly VFD Captain Jared Miller said most of the time when they roll up on the scene of an accident and someone wasn't wearing a seat belt, the officers see the consequences firsthand, because that person has already been ejected from their car.

Chesar said the OSHP recently partnered up with the Ohio State University Extension Office and the CARTEENS 4-H Club at the Washington County Career Center for a seat belt campaign. He said this program helped to educate teens on the importance of seat belts. He said this pilot project lasted throughout a week in April where the students were surveyed wearing their seat belts and gradually improved in seat belt usage over the course of the week. He said they would like to expand this project within the next few years.

"We want to educate people and make sure that they're wearing their seat belts," Chesar said.

James Dobbs can be reached at jdobbs@newsandsentinel.com.