News Headlines

Click It Or Ticket

Posted: 10:46 PM May 17, 2012
Reporter: Terri Russell

RENO, NV - Law enforcement brought in a banged up car to dramatize how fire and medical crews respond to an accident.

They look for a broken windshield, a damaged steering wheel, all indications that the driver was not wearing a seat belt.

For Fallon couple Lea and Chris Pope the scene is reminiscent of what happened to them a year ago.

Affirmed non seat belt wearers they borrowed a car for a trip whose alarms were insistent they wear seat belts.

Chris says he took his eyes off the road for mere seconds and went into oncoming traffic.

“Couldn't believe we were walking away with just bumps and scratches,” says Chris of the accident, it’s what first responders told him as well.

“I now religiously wear my seat belt--it's a religion in our house,” says Lea

Law enforcement says they don't want a near fatal experience to convince drivers and everyone in the car to wear seat belts.

Officers from all agencies gathered at the Grand Sierra Resort in a show of force to encourage seat belt use.

With all of the technical advances inside cars these days, the seat belt is still a mainstay and there is a reason for that.

“Its very discouraging to us, to roll up to an accident that has minimal damage, to find someone in the front seat who is unconscious because they've punctured a lung or broken a rib and its something that was completely preventable,” says Kevin Romero from REMSA.

Nevada's seat belt law is a secondary violation.

That means you cannot be stopped for not wearing a seat belt, you have to commit a primary violation and be stopped first.

But law enforcement says the state law shouldn’t dissuade you from using your seat belt consistently—while it doesn’t mean points on your driving record, it could mean your life.