BUCKLING DOWN ON SEAT BELT VIOLATORS FINES THREE TIMES HIGHER THAN LAST LABOR DAY WEEKEND.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

NEWHALL - If you think you can't get stopped for not wearing your safety belt, think again. And prepare to pay three times what it cost last Labor Day weekend.

Using vehicle safety restraints will be the focus of an effort by law enforcement from midnight Thursday to midnight Sept. 8. Despite a legend to the contrary, officers can pull over drivers who are not belted in without any other reason to stop them.

``We have people try and argue,'' said Officer Michelle Esposito of the California Highway Patrol's Santa Clarita Valley station. ``We've had that right for a while. But if we pull them over for another type of equipment violation or offense and they're not wearing their seat belt, they will be charged with that, too.''

The fine for seat belt violations in Los Angeles County is the highest in California. The basic fine for first offenders is $20, but by the time court costs and penalties are added on, the ticket totals $85. Not using a child restraining system, for passengers up to age 16, will run about $341.

Currently, more than 90 percent of California drivers use seat belts, but officials feel that number can reasonably reach 100 percent.

A recent safety crackdown in the CHP's Southern Division, which goes from the northernmost reaches of Los Angeles County down to Santa Fe Springs, resulted in 3,273 citations for seat belt violations being given and 105 citations for not using child restraint systems.

Of those citations, 187 seat belt tickets and eight child restraint violations were noted in the Newhall area.

``Most of the people who drive through our area are either coming from Bakersfield or Fresno, down into the city and back, or they're traveling a long distance, so they use their belts,'' Esposito explained. ``In a lot of other areas, people are jumping on the freeway to go to and from work or only staying on the freeway a short time, so numbers in the other areas could be higher.''

Nationally in 2002, more than 46 percent of all vehicle occupants killed in crashes were unbelted. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 601 of the 1,336 unbelted victims would have survived if they had been wearing a safety belt.

The Office of Traffic Safety has allocated more than $6.5 million in occupant protection grants for fiscal 2005 to the CHP and several other law enforcement agencies for this and other programs.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com