By Andra Bryan Stefanoni

news@joplinglobe.com

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Lives are at stake, officials with the Kansas Department of Transportation said Thursday during a meeting for discussion of the low rate of seat-belt usage among residents in Southeast Kansas.

The region has a 56 percent usage rate, compared with the state average of 77 percent, said KDOT’s Dave Corp.

“Our compliance rate is the lowest or one of the lowest in the state, and that’s unacceptable,” said Crawford County Sheriff Sandy Horton.

According to numbers released by KDOT, two-thirds of those who die in traffic crashes in Kansas aren’t wearing seat belts.

Members of the Pittsburg, Frontenac and Girard police departments, the Pittsburg State University campus force, and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department attended the meeting at Memorial Auditorium. They were on hand to learn what can be done to encourage people to buckle up and to hear the results of earlier efforts.

Some strides have been made in the past year through the implementation of a student-driven campaign, Seatbelts Are For Everyone, or SAFE, Corp said.

KDOT officials also presented a leadership award to John Keene of the Kansas Highway Patrol for helping implement SAFE with Horton and 31 students from the county’s six high schools.

Through the use of pledge cards and prizes, the campaign has raised seat-belt usage among Crawford County teens by 8 percent and, at two schools, by 17 percent compared with last fall’s rates, according to Horton. Students did observational surveys at their high schools before and after implementing the SAFE educational campaign.

“When you say 17 percent, that means 17 out of 100 students that if they were in a crash, would have a much better chance of surviving,” Horton said.

The enforcement phase of the campaign began this week, and while some citations have been written, “the rate is nowhere near where it was last year,” Horton said.

In addition to law-enforcement personnel, those in attendance included representatives of city and county governments, Pittsburg Mayor Pam Henderson, Crawford County Commissioners Ralph McGeorge and Linda Grilz, and members of the business community — all of whom Corp invited because he said they play a role in saving lives.

“Every time we raise a percentage, you can bet that three or four more people will be alive in our state,” Corp said.