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2000 Operation ABC Mobilization
Law Enforcement Talking Points for the November 2000 Operation ABC Mobilization
- The Berkeley Heights Police Department is joining more than 8,000 law enforcement agencies to take part in the Operation ABC Mobilization. For the first time in history this Thanksgiving week, agencies across the nation are stepping up efforts to protect children from two of the leading risks they face. Officers will be looking for drivers who drink and drive and drivers who fail to buckle up children - often these are the same people.
- Our agency has zero tolerance for irresponsible drivers who needlessly put children in danger. If you put innocent lives at risk by not buckling up kids or by driving drunk, we're going to find you, and strict law enforcement action will be taken against you. Drivers failing to buckle up themselves or their child passengers will be ticketed. Drivers found driving drunk will be arrested. Depending on the number of previous offenses, they will be fined heavily, lose their license, or face jail time.
- Our officers will step up enforcement of seat belt, child passenger safety and drunk driving laws through the use of checkpoints and saturation patrols.
- Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death to children, killing 2,000 children each year. Nearly one-fourth of the deaths are alcohol related. And six out of ten children who die in crashes are completely unrestrained. These are totally preventable tragedies.
- The public may not realize what officers know firsthand - most children under age 14 killed in alcohol-related crashes are riding with a drunk driver, rather than riding in vehicles hit by drunk drivers, according to new research from the Centers for Disease Control. And the more alcohol consumed by a driver the less likely child passengers will be restrained.
- It's bad enough that people drink and drive. It's criminal that adults drink and then drive with their kids or someone else's kids and put these children at deadly risk.
- We do these crackdowns because they work. The U.S. Department of Transportation reported recently that it had met its goal of decreasing child fatalities by 15 percent in just three years since the Mobilizations began. In fact, the rate has dropped 16 percent. The annual number of alcohol-related fatalities has dropped 37 percent over the last 18 years because of stronger drunk driving laws and stepped up enforcement.
- Deadbeat drivers who refuse to buckle up children admit themselves that it takes strong laws and fines to get them to restrain their child passengers. And a recent survey of people who drink alcohol found that nine out of ten said losing their license would discourage them from driving after drinking.
- While we're pleased with our progress, we know there is more to do. While restraint use for young children ages 0-4 is more than 90 percent, one out of three children ages 5 to 15 still ride unrestrained. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 1996 estimate, one out of every 280 babies born today will die in a crash with an intoxicated driver.
- Mothers Against Drunk Driving has joined the Operation ABC Mobilization this year, which is a partnership of law enforcement, the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign of the National Safety Council, state highway safety offices, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. The Mobilization is a part of Buckle Up America, an ongoing national initiative to increase belt use and save lives.
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