Press Coverage

by Matt Young, Staff Writer
The Northern Virginia Journal

The federal pot of money dedicated to helping states increase seat belt use tipped more to Virginia than Maryland this year.

Virginia received $1,070,783 from the U.S. Department of Transportation, while Maryland received $680,780.

The grants were awarded competitively and based on innovative projects to increase seat belt use, department officials said.

Virginia was rewarded in 2003 by the federal department, which allowed the state only $850,000 in 2002, said Vince Burgess, assistant commissioner for transportation safety at the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. That's partially because of a successful educational experiment, he said.

In 2000, Virginia DMV coordinated an "educational blitz" in Charlottesville, where, for two weeks, the area was bombarded with advertising and increased enforcement of seat belt laws. After the blitz, usage rose from 60 percent to 80 percent of the population.

"Changing people's behavior doesn't happen overnight," Burgess said. But the two weeks certainly helped, he said. The experiment continued in Newport News in 2001 and the Roanoke Valley area in 2002 with similar results, he said.

Maryland also received about $20,000 more in federal transportation funds from 2002 to 2003.

Meg Miller, a vehicle safety advocate for the Maryland State Highway Administration, said Maryland may have received less than Virginia because the state had some extra funds it didn't spend from former grants, which could have affected the federal transportation department's decision-making process.

And while Maryland may have some innovative seat belt education programs, Miller said many more Maryland residents than Virginians use safety harnesses for one key reason - a stricter law.

"Our guys can enforce seat belt compliance," Miller said, who noted that Virginia police agencies cannot stop and ticket drivers and front seat passengers, 16 years or older, simply for leaving their seat belts off. In Maryland, all front seat passengers must wear seat belts or face being pulled over, she said.

As a result, about 86 percent of Maryland residents wear seat belts while closer to 70 percent of Virginia residents do, Miller said.

"It's really the laws that are the most effective way to get people to buckle up," said Cathy Chase, spokeswoman for the Washington-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

States that enacted laws allowing police to pull over safety beltless drivers and passengers immediately saw a 10 to 15 percentage point jump in the number of people who wear seat belts, Chase said.