DEPUTIES GEAR UP SEAT-BELT CRACKDOWN LOCAL RESIDENTS WARNED TO BUCKLE UP THIS WEEK.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Within a month of three crashes that killed four people and injured 13 - none of them wearing seat belts - Palmdale and Lancaster sheriff's deputies will be looking for motorists and passengers not wearing seat belts over the next week as part of the nationwide ``Click it or Ticket'' program.

The stepped-up enforcement is aimed at reducing fatalities and injuries sustained from car crashes: Of the 30,000 people who died last year in car crashes, half were not wearing seat belts.

``These people do not need to die,'' said Sgt. Gus Risinger of the Lancaster sheriff's station's traffic unit. ``Many of them are children. Making sure their kids are restrained is one of the most important things parents can do.''

Nationwide, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for children, killing more than 2,000 children each year.

Last month, Lancaster deputies stopped and cited 40 people for not wearing seat belts: 21 of those tickets were for unrestrained children.

In Palmdale, 107 people were cited for not wearing seat belts, including 12 tickets for children. In some of the Palmdale citations, drivers were stopped for reasons other than lack of seat belt.

Both stations will assign additional patrols, saturation patrols and stepped-up enforcement through Thanksgiving weekend.

On Oct. 7, a Littlerock youth football coach was killed and his three sons seriously injured when a suspected drunken driver ran a stop sign and hit the family's minivan, officials have said. The coach's wife, the van's only occupant wearing a seat belt, escaped with relatively minor injuries.

Two separate crashes Oct. 25 claimed the lives of two toddlers and the mother of one of the toddlers, and injured 10 people, none wearing seat belts.

The first collision occurred when a 17-year-old boy ran a stop sign and collided with a Littlerock family's minivan, authorities said. Three children were thrown from the van. A 2-year-old died at the scene and the toddler's mother died later at a hospital. One child remains hospitalized.

The second crash occurred that night when a car carrying three adults and five children ages 1 to 7 turned in front of a pickup truck.

A 3-year-old boy in the rear passenger seat of the car was killed instantly. None of the five children were wearing seat belts.

``I have to think that these types of patrols will help,'' Risinger said. ``We do know that this enforcement does save lives, and that's just what we want to do.''

Deputies will also be on the lookout for motorists driving drunk during the holiday season.

Routine DUI checkpoints will be scheduled throughout the end of the year.

``We won't be overlooking other violations because of this,'' said Deputy Mike Redding of the Palmdale sheriff's station's traffic unit. ``The holiday season is always a time for stepped-up patrols.''