Publisher's News Analysis: Cops Play by Different Click it or Ticket Rules
- By Roy Douglas Malonson
- Published 10/14/2009
- Community
- Unrated
Roy Douglas Malonson
Roy D. Malonson is publisher of the African-American News&Issues.
View all articles by Roy Douglas Malonson
When Texas’ biggest-ever Click It or Ticket campaign was launched a few months ago, area high schools were contacted to participate in the Texas Department of Transportation’s latest public education campaign designed to reach 18- to 34-year-old motorists, a group more likely to be involved in traffic crashes and less likely to buckle up than other groups. TxDOT also uses five inflatable characters: Godzilla, a rockstar, and a rubber duck, to travel to major cities across Texas in an effort to warn Texans that thousands of state troopers, police officers and sheriff’s deputies will be on Texas streets and highways to enforce the state’s safety belt laws.
John Barton, TxDOT’s Assistant Executive Director for Engineering Operations said, “Buckling up is the single, easiest thing motorists can do to protect themselves from death or serious injury if they’re involved in a crash.”
Drivers and front seat passengers can be ticketed for not wearing their safety belt and so can drivers who do not buckle up their children. Safety belt violations can result in fines ranging from $25 to $200. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, (NHTSA), every 15 seconds, someone is injured in a traffic crash.
If you’re not buckled up, you could be thrown through a window, sent skidding along the pavement or be crushed under a vehicle in a crash. Someone is killed in a crash every 13 minutes. However, seat belts save over 11,000 lives each year, and they can help you maintain control of your car in a crash.
Apparently, the ones responsible for making sure that the rest of us are properly restrained, didn’t get the memo. I say this after hearing the details of two recent tragic automobile accidents involving police officers. In Baytown, Police Sergeant George Drude, 40, crashed his pickup into a culvert on John Martin Road. The 15-year veteran of the department was killed instantly.
A few minutes later, Precinct 3 Deputy Constable Robert Clenney, 38, who had been with the department for only 11 months, was headed to an off-duty security job when his SUV was rear-ended by another vehicle on South Main. The deputy spun into oncoming traffic and was hit head-on by a pick-up truck.
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, neither officer wore at seatbelt a the time of their desmise.
Coincidence? Hardly. The culture of police associations across the country has developed a “we-are-above-the-law” mentality that permeates throughout each department.
We see it in the number of “wrongful deaths” suits brought against officers and won by family members after their loved-ones have been unjustly killed, and we see it in the attitudes of officers who embrace the “thug life,” and are caught up in the vicious cycle of greed and corruption. We even see it when law enforcement officers are caught Driving While Intoxicated and Driving Under the Influence, some even while wearing their uniforms. Now we see where there is an unwritten rule that officers do not have to wear seatbelts, although they would not hesitate giving you a ticket for the same infraction.
I’m not speaking ill of the dead. I’m sure Drude and Clenney were both dedicated officers, but as it is often stated, “attitude reflect leadership.”
If police officers have a lackadaisical attitude towards the wearing of safety belts, you can bet it is a reflection of that department’s administration.
I’ve heard pundits discussing why those officers possibly weren’t wearing seatbelts. I’d like to use any of them the next time I’m pulled over and see just how far I get. The bottom line is “it’s the law.” Precinct 3 Constable Ken Jones said, “There’s definitely a message, wear the seatbelt, it’s there for a reason, it can save your life.” I’ve yet to hear any officer or administrator say outright that it is illegal for a anyone to operate a vehicle without wearing seatbelts.
Maybe that can be the topic of discussion for the day, right after roll call. Or maybe one of the candidates for mayor can make it an enforceable priority. Then again, it’s all about leadership.
John Barton, TxDOT’s Assistant Executive Director for Engineering Operations said, “Buckling up is the single, easiest thing motorists can do to protect themselves from death or serious injury if they’re involved in a crash.”
Drivers and front seat passengers can be ticketed for not wearing their safety belt and so can drivers who do not buckle up their children. Safety belt violations can result in fines ranging from $25 to $200. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, (NHTSA), every 15 seconds, someone is injured in a traffic crash.
If you’re not buckled up, you could be thrown through a window, sent skidding along the pavement or be crushed under a vehicle in a crash. Someone is killed in a crash every 13 minutes. However, seat belts save over 11,000 lives each year, and they can help you maintain control of your car in a crash.
Apparently, the ones responsible for making sure that the rest of us are properly restrained, didn’t get the memo. I say this after hearing the details of two recent tragic automobile accidents involving police officers. In Baytown, Police Sergeant George Drude, 40, crashed his pickup into a culvert on John Martin Road. The 15-year veteran of the department was killed instantly.
A few minutes later, Precinct 3 Deputy Constable Robert Clenney, 38, who had been with the department for only 11 months, was headed to an off-duty security job when his SUV was rear-ended by another vehicle on South Main. The deputy spun into oncoming traffic and was hit head-on by a pick-up truck.
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, neither officer wore at seatbelt a the time of their desmise.
Coincidence? Hardly. The culture of police associations across the country has developed a “we-are-above-the-law” mentality that permeates throughout each department.
We see it in the number of “wrongful deaths” suits brought against officers and won by family members after their loved-ones have been unjustly killed, and we see it in the attitudes of officers who embrace the “thug life,” and are caught up in the vicious cycle of greed and corruption. We even see it when law enforcement officers are caught Driving While Intoxicated and Driving Under the Influence, some even while wearing their uniforms. Now we see where there is an unwritten rule that officers do not have to wear seatbelts, although they would not hesitate giving you a ticket for the same infraction.
I’m not speaking ill of the dead. I’m sure Drude and Clenney were both dedicated officers, but as it is often stated, “attitude reflect leadership.”
If police officers have a lackadaisical attitude towards the wearing of safety belts, you can bet it is a reflection of that department’s administration.
I’ve heard pundits discussing why those officers possibly weren’t wearing seatbelts. I’d like to use any of them the next time I’m pulled over and see just how far I get. The bottom line is “it’s the law.” Precinct 3 Constable Ken Jones said, “There’s definitely a message, wear the seatbelt, it’s there for a reason, it can save your life.” I’ve yet to hear any officer or administrator say outright that it is illegal for a anyone to operate a vehicle without wearing seatbelts.
Maybe that can be the topic of discussion for the day, right after roll call. Or maybe one of the candidates for mayor can make it an enforceable priority. Then again, it’s all about leadership.