Palo Alto, CA -- Palo Alto Police officers will join colleagues throughout the United States to promote traffic safety during the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's seat belt safety awareness campaign from May 19th to June 1st.

Dubbed "Remember or be Remembered," an emphasis will be placed on seat belt and child safety seat education and enforcement. During 2001, 2,279 California adults and children lost their lives in car crashes - 36 percent were not restrained. Nearly half of those would have survived had they simply buckled up. Even so, NHTSA research shows that the threat of a ticket is proven to be a greater motivator to buckle up than the threat of injury or death.

As a preview, traffic officers will be increasing presence around Palo Alto schools during the week of April 28 to May 2 during Operation Safe Passage. The purpose of this enforcement effort is to promote child safety during high activity times at the beginning and end of the school day. Motorists should be aware that during a similar school traffic safety enforcement period in Santa Clara County during January, citations written by Palo Alto officers were second only to those in San Jose. Traffic Officer Chris Hammett will be on his police motorcycle watching for seat belt and other serious safety violations. He said, "Please remember to buckle up because I remember how to write a ticket."

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