The Coos Bay Police Department (CBPD) is urging drivers to buckle up during our upcoming high-visibility safety belt traffic enforcement efforts. Beginning Monday, January 29th, through Sunday, February 11th, 2024, CBPD and law enforcement agencies throughout Oregon will use federally funded overtime to enforce and educate the public on safety belt and child seat laws, including a law passed in 2017 increasing safety for children under the age of two. ODOT crash data for 2021 shows lack of safety belts or child restraint use was a factor in 32%, or 119, of a total of 377 motor vehicle occupant fatalities. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading nationwide cause of death for children ages one through twelve years old. In 2021, 1,475 children under twelve were injured in Oregon traffic crashes; 16 percent reported not using a child restraint system. It is estimated that car seats may increase crash survival by 71% for infants under one year old and by up to 59% for toddlers aged one to four. Booster seats may reduce the chance of nonfatal injury among four- to eight-year-olds by 45% compared to safety belts used alone. In 2017, an Oregon law was passed requiring children to ride in a rear-facing safety seat until they are at least two years old. A child over the age of two must continue to ride in a car seat with a harness or in a booster until they reach age eight, or 4’ 9” in height, and the adult belt fits them correctly. The 2017 law, which extends the rear-facing requirement from the previous age of one to age two, will better protect the child’s head, neck, and spine from potential crash injuries. This is because a rear-facing seat spreads crash forces evenly across the seat and child’s body while also limiting forward or sideways motion of the head. This enhanced enforcement effort is made possible by grant funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
