Multi-jurisdictional law enforcement officers

KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON - Today, the Seattle Mariners teamed up with health and safety leaders at a Safeco Field event to mark the start of two traffic safety initiatives: the traffic safety emphasis patrols on Cinco de Mayo and the Click-it-or-Ticket seatbelt enforcement patrols.

Cinco de Mayo traffic safety patrols will include officers from Auburn, Enumclaw, Federal Way, Kent, Maple Valley, Muckleshoot, Normandy Park, Renton, Sammamish, Seattle, Sea-Tac, Shoreline, Tukwila, Woodinville, the Washington Liquor Control Board and the Washington State Patrol. Similarly, there will be extra officers from the Eastside DUI Task Force working on Cinco de Mayo; this task force includes the police departments of Bellevue, Bothell, Kirkland, Mercer Island, Issaquah, Redmond, Medina and Snoqualmie.

Reporters and camera crews wishing to ride along with a law enforcement officer during a Cinco de Mayo traffic patrol may make arrangements by calling 206-205-3331.

Last year on Cinco de Mayo, law enforcement officers in King County made 52 DUI arrests. Nationally since 1999, 43 percent of all highway fatalities on the night of May 5 through the early morning of May 6 were caused by impaired drivers with blood-alcohol levels above .08.

Dr. Alonzo Plough, Director and Health Officer of Public Health - Seattle & King County

“If you drink while celebrating Cinco de Mayo make sure you have a sober ride home. Arrange your safe ride home before you go out,” said Dr. Alonzo Plough, Director and Health Officer at Public Health - Seattle & King County.

Leaders from the Mexican-American, Mexican, and Latino communities are encouraging people to enjoy local Cinco de Mayo festivities, but reminding people to keep celebrations respectful and responsible. The following agencies and businesses expressed support of this Cinco de Mayo traffic safety effort:

Click it or Ticket Campaign

From May 9 through June 5, 2005, extra law enforcement patrols will monitor city streets, state roads, and interstates in King County and all of Washington State looking for unbuckled drivers. This enforcement effort is part of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission’s “Click it or Ticket” Campaign. In Washington, seatbelt violations carry a fine of $101.

In June 2002, when the primary seatbelt law went into effect, only 82 percent of Washington drivers wore seatbelts. Today, Washington has one of the highest seatbelt use rates in the United States at 94 percent. King County’s rate is even higher, at 97 percent.

“When we chart our vehicle death rate and our seat belt use rate, it is easy to see just how important high seat belt use is in reducing deaths and serious injuries from vehicle collisions,” said Lowell Porter, Director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

The Traffic Safety Commission reports more than a 100 lives have been saved since the primary seatbelt law was enacted and enforced.

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