When I was nine years old I loved baseball, Superman and not wearing my seat belt. The year was 1983. The Yankees were horrible, Superman III came out (an underrated film in my opinion) and my mother decided it was time for all of us to start wearing our seat belts.
Before that time no one in my family hardly ever wore their seat belt. I certainly never did. I enjoyed the freedom of bouncing around in the back seat of my mom's 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Sometimes I would stand up in the back seat and lean over to the front so I could hear what the adults were saying to each other. Believe it or not kids, cars back then didn't have DVD players in the back seat to keep children entertained. Listening to my folks was as good as it got.
But then some statistics started coming out about seat belt safety. My mom took heed and soon everyone was buckling up. I resisted at first. As a nine-year-old my most powerful form of resistance was throwing a tantrum of course. My dear sweet mother did not "buckle" under my fits of rage and soon started my lifelong habit of wearing my seat belt.
In high school I was vigilant when driving with friends that everyone in the car buckle up. Even to this day I make sure everyone has a their seat belt on before I start driving.
Today marks the first day of Georgia's annual "Click it or Ticket" program.
From now until Memorial Day law enforcement officers around the state will be setting up road blocks morning, noon and night to make sure everyone in Georgia is buckled up.
I could throw down a phone book's worth of statistics telling you how important wearing your seat belt is. I can tell you how many lives have been saved by people wearing seat belts. I could tell you how much safer in an automobile you are when you wear your seat belt. But, I'm not going to.
You've heard it all before. Luckily 85 percent of you reading this wear your seat belt all the time. To the 15 percent that are holding out, let me offer this. Just wear your seat belt between now and Memorial Day. It might be an inconvenience but at least if you get stopped at a road block you won't get ticketed. And who knows, after a couple of weeks of buckling up it might just become a habit that you keep. If I could do it at nine years old anything is possible.
In case you were curious Georgia Law states that in only these circumstances are people allowed to not buckle up:
1. A driver or passenger frequently stopping and leaving the vehicle or delivering property from the vehicle, if the speed of the vehicle between stops does not exceed 15 miles per hour;
2. A driver or passenger possessing a written statement from a physician that such person is unable, for medical or physical reasons, to wear a seat safety belt;
3. A driver or passenger possessing an official certificate or license endorsement issued by the appropriate agency in another state or country indicating that the driver is unable for medical, physical, or other valid reasons to wear a seat safety belt;
4. A driver operating a passenger vehicle in reverse;
5. A passenger vehicle with a model year prior to 1965;
6. A passenger vehicle which is not required to be equipped with seat safety belts under federal law;
7. A passenger vehicle operated by a rural letter carrier of the United States Postal Service while performing duties as a rural letter carrier;
8. A passenger vehicle from which a person is delivering newspapers; or
9. A passenger vehicle performing an emergency service.
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