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WPD ANNOUNCES SAFE CAMPAIGN PARTICIPATION

Waverly Police Department Announces SAFE Campaign Participation

The Waverly Police Department will be partnering with the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office for the 2016 Seatbelts Are For Everyone (SAFE) campaign. The SAFE campaign is designed to increase seat belt and child passenger safety restraint usage in Tennessee.  Law enforcement agencies participate in the campaign by planning and implementing occupant protection initiatives in their communities.

“We see examples every year of seat belt use saving lives and reducing injuries in crashes here in Waverly,” said Chief of Police Grant Gillespie.  “Buckling up and making sure our children are in a properly used child restraint seat are key to keeping safe on the road.  Unfortunately, we still see adults and children injured or killed because they don’t take these life saving measures.”

     This is the third year that the Governor’s Highway Safety Office has sponsored this campaign. Last year yielded the following results:

  • 2,470 child restraint violations
  • 33,879 seat belt citations
  • 671 other seat belt enforcement activities

“Last year, our statewide seat belt use rate dropped slightly to 86.6%,” said Governor’s Highway Safety Office Director Kendell Poole. “It is vitally important that all drivers and passengers buckle up every trip, every time. Our ultimate goal is that this campaign, combined with the increase of the seat belt fine, will increase our usage rate to ninety percent or higher.”

This year, participating agencies will pay special attention to nighttime seat belt enforcement. Tennessee has seen a disproportionate percentage of unrestrained fatalities between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 5:59 a.m. Historically, approximately fifty percent of Tennessee’s traffic fatalities are unbelted. That percentage increases to nearly sixty when nighttime crashes are examined.

The SAFE campaign will take place February 1 – August 1, 2016. 


Waverly Dept. of Public Safety

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