Rosenbaum receives Public Service Award

On behalf of Lake County Public Health and Buckle Up Montana Lake County Coalition, Trooper Terry Rosenbaum of the Montana Highway Patrol was presented with a Public Service Award for raising seat belt awareness. In Montana, a trooper who notices unrestrained occupants is not empowered to enforce the child restraint or seat belt laws unless he or she has reasonable cause to believe that another traffic regulation has been violated.

In 2009 Trooper Rosenbaum diligently worked on seat belt awareness giving 282 seat belt and 19 child restraint citations.

"We have experienced positive results from his work and the work of his peers," Captain Clancy King, District 6 Commander, said. "Through their diligence injury crashes in northwest Montana have decreased tremendously over the past few years. This equates to millions of dollars in savings for those who live, visit and work here. Crashes have decreased across the region over the past four years. This is a marked change from the preceding decades where we saw double digit increases."

People dying from motor vehicle crashes on Montana roads is one of our major killers, non-seat belt use plays a major part in these deaths. Nearly 8000 vehicle occupants are injured, statewide, each year. In 2008, there were 229 traffic-related fatalities on Montana's roads. Of the 229 fatalities, only 46 of the fatalities did wear a seat belt, with 26.4 percent seat belt use. Over 71 percent of them, 124 drivers and passengers, either didn't use or improperly used their seat belts. In all likelihood, most, if not all of the 81 people who were killed because they were partially or completely ejected would be alive today had they been wearing their seat belts. Montana is the only state that does not allow primary enforcement of child restraint violations. States with secondary enforcement have a 15 percent higher fatality rate per 100,000 population than states with primary enforcement. The average seat belt use is 14 percent higher in primary states than in secondary enforcement states. Higher usage rates mean fewer deaths and reduced injuries. The Buckle Up Montana Lake County Coalition is working with local law enforcement to increase proper child restraint and seat belt use.

"We believe we can improve the quality of life in the region through high visibility traffic enforcement," King said. "When the number of crashes decreases troopers have more time to be visible working the roads. The more they are on the roads, the fewer crashes we have and so on. Results are reductions in medical bills, lower insurance premiums, less absences from work and school."

-Courtesy of Diane Ward