CHP BUCKLES DOWN ON SEAT-BELT USAGE.

Byline: Daily News

LANCASTER - California Highway Patrol officers will be out looking for motorists who aren't wearing seat belts over the Thanksgiving holiday.

The CHP said it will begin a ``maximum enforcement period'' beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday and continuing through midnight Sunday, with all available officers on the road.

``We're finding, especially in the Antelope Valley, an increase in fatalities due to just more people not wearing seat belts,'' Antelope Valley CHP spokesman Rusty Moore said.

Since Jan. 1, at least 76 people have been killed in traffic crashes in the Antelope Valley, up approximately 40 percent from last year, CHP and Los Angeles County statistics show.

Antelope Valley residents are 2 1/2 times more likely to die in a traffic crash than other Los Angeles County residents, according to a 2002 county analysis.

The greater mortality was blamed on valley residents commuting farther that most county residents, driving at high speeds and needing to use rural two-lane roads with lots of intersections where motorists can miss stop signs.

CHP patrols will put special emphasis on Interstate 5 north of Bakersfield, Interstate 15 north of San Bernardino, Interstate 80 and Interstate 40.

Radio, television and newspaper advertisements and billboards will promote the usage of seat belts, the CHP said.

This weekend completes a two-year, $4 million campaign financed by a federal grant to increase the usage of seat belts in California, officials said.

In Lancaster, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies are conducting a similar crackdown on motorists not using seat belts, starting last week and running through Thanksgiving weekend.

In the first three days, deputies gave out more than 300 tickets to motorists and passengers not using seat belts, officials said.

Research shows that over 91 percent of Californians wear seat belts, the CHP said. Most people who aren't wearing them have just forgotten to buckle up, especially on short trips, the CHP said.