EDUCATION BUILDS TRAFFIC SAFETY

Wearing your seat belt not only could save your life, it could land you some freebies Saturday afternoon. The Cape Girardeau Police Department and Community Traffic Safety Program will conduct a safety check and awareness fair from 1-4 p.m. at Mount Auburn Road near Boatman's Bank.

Cape Girardeau's seat-belt compliance rate now hovers around 72 percent. That's good, but police officials want to see it go even higher - to about 80 percent. The ambitious local efforts have already landed Cape Girardeau a space on the national "70 Percent Plus Honor Roll" in recognition of high seat-belt usage here.

Cape Girardeau authorities are serious about traffic offenders. A Missouri Division of Highway Safety grant has put an extra police officer on the roads each Thursday and Friday afternoon to enforce state seat-belt laws, motorcycle helmet regulations and speed limits. High traffic areas and high accident times receive special attention. The patrols began earlier this month.

Education efforts have paid off in greater seat-belt usage. And that higher usage has lowered the number of seat-belt citations. Officers issued 474 tickets last year - down 100 from the year before.

Wearing a seat belt not only increases motorist safety, it can save drivers citations. Education and enforcement have improved traffic safety in Cape Girardeau.