The in basket: When the roadside “Click it or Ticket” signs warning of the requirement that vehicle occupants must wear a seat belt began having the words “Day and Night” added to them, I was amused and wondered what problem that was intended to solve. Were their drivers who thought the law didn’t apply at night, or that the police couldn’t see that they were unbelted when it’s dark?
The in basket: When the roadside “Click it or Ticket” signs warning
of the requirement that vehicle occupants must wear a seat belt
began having the words “Day and Night” added to them, I was amused
and wondered what problem that was intended to solve. Were their
drivers who thought the law didn’t apply at night, or that the
police couldn’t see that they were unbelted when it’s dark? So I
asked.
The out basket: Steve Bennett of the Olympic Region state highway
engineers said the signs used to include the amount of the fine for
getting caught unbelted, but the amount kept going up. That meant
the signs had to be revised, at some expense.
So about the time the State Patrol began emphasizing their intent
to watch for unbelted drivers at night, it was decided that the
fine amount on the signs would be covered by the “Day and Night”
warning to kill two birds with one stone.
I also was curious as to how officers manage to spot unbelted
drivers and passengers on the freeway in the dark. Lt. Clint
Casebolt of the local WSP office said it isn’t hard, and stop
lights and the head of freeway off-ramps are the easiest places to
see them.
