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Morning News

Survive Your Drive: Fmr. California Highway Patrol Commissioner Maury Hannigan Discusses Importance of Seat Belt Usage

Aired August 25, 2000 - 11:12 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Highways across the U.S. are getting more crowded every year and it's putting a strain on law enforcement officers who patrol the highways.

Joining us from Sacramento, California to talk more about highway related safety issues is Maury Hannigan. He's a former commissioner of the Highway Patrol, the CHiPs. He's a member of the National Safety Council and the host of the TV show "Real Stories of the Highway Patrol."

Commissioner, good morning. Thanks for joining us.

MAURY HANNIGAN, NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: As we try to make the highways more safe and survive our drive, I have two words for you that I want you to comment on: seat belts. How important are they?

HANNIGAN: Critical. I use California as one example. In 1987, California killed 5,500 people on its highways. And in '89, the Highway Patrol made the decision that we were going to reduce the mileage death rate and fatalities.

Today, when I left, we were at 86 percent seat belt usage. Today, under the leadership of Spike Helmick, the current commissioner, the state is at 90 percent, and it is estimated that usage of seat belts, that level of usage, is saving a minimum of 1,200 lives a year in California.

Nationwide, you are looking at at least 12,000 people a year that are saved by seat belts. And if we can get it to 90 percent, because the current usage is 70 percent -- if we could get it to 90 percent, you are talking about another 12,000 to 15,000 people. So seat belts are critical.

The National Safety Council, in cooperation with law enforcement across this nation, some 8,200 law enforcement agencies during the Memorial Day and the Thanksgiving Day holiday periods, worked together collectively under America Buckles Up Its Children campaign, a mobilization, and we've been able to get 19 million more people into seat belts. That's going to save a lot of lives. For every...

KAGAN: So we see -- Commissioner, I just want to ask you, so we see in California, we've seen the number of highway deaths go down even though you've seen more people and more drivers move into the state.

HANNIGAN: Yes, you have. What you look at is the mileage death rate, and that's basically the number of people killed per 100 million miles of travel. As I said, in '87, California was killing about 5,500 people, and the mileage death rate was about 2.4, 2.5. Today in California, with a 90 percent belt usage rate, their deaths are down to 3,400, and Commissioner Helmick hopes it's down to 3,200 this year. Their mileage death rate -- again, the number of people killed per 100 million miles of travel -- has gone from a 2.5, 2.4 to a 1.2 and even less than a 1.2. That is a significant accomplishment.

KAGAN: I'm pretty religious -- in fact, I'm very religious about putting my seat belt on when I get in the car and I'm the driver. Sometimes, though, Commissioner, I'll have a passenger who does not want to put on his or her seat belt. How big of a danger is that person in my passenger seat to me the driver if we get into an accident?

HANNIGAN: Well, in addition to endangering themselves, they're endangering you. At impact, they could be thrown into you.

KAGAN: They could become a projectile, right?

HANNIGAN: They could be a projectile. They are basically 100, 150 or 200 pounds floating around that car at the speed of the vehicle. If you're traveling 60 miles an hour and come to a sudden stop, that person is continuing at 60 miles an hour.

I have to compliment a couple other states, too. The states of New York, under the leadership of Jim McMahon, the superintendent of the New York State Police, in the last year has moved seat belt usage from 73 percent to 86 percent through the cooperation with law enforcement throughout the state of New York.

In Michigan, the state of Michigan, Mike Robinson, the colonel in the Michigan State Police, and also the president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. They've only had a primary seat belt law for six months, but Colonel Robinson has moved usage in that state from the 70 percentile to the 83 percentile. And Colonel Robinson, as the president of IACP, is committed to moving this entire nation to the 90 percent level.

So there's a lot going on in law enforcement to get people buckled up. There are some 17 states now that have primary laws, and deaths nationwide are going down as we increase belt usage. Currently, belt usage in the United States is at 70 percent.

KAGAN: You'd like to see it 90 percent?

HANNIGAN: We'd love to have it at 90 percent.

KAGAN: Or perhaps even 100 percent.

HANNIGAN: Or 100 percent. With each percentage point that you increase belt usage, you get another 2 1/2 million people buckled up.

KAGAN: Wow, impressive. Impressive progress, and still yet more work to go.

Former Commissioner Maury Hannigan from the CHP, California Highway Patrol, thanks for coming in. And I will make sure that I buckle up when I leave work today.

HANNIGAN: Thank you, Daryn. Everybody buckle up.

KAGAN: Absolutely. Thank you, sir. Appreciate your time.

For more "Survive Your Drive" information, check out our Web site. Among other things, you can take a quick quiz to test your knowledge about auto safety. You'll also find the "Survive Your Drive" page on CNN.com.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

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