Dover-  The Delaware Office of Highway Safety (OHS) and law enforcement agencies statewide will begin the third wave of enforcement on June 1st for the Respect Your Ride motorcycle safety campaign.  Throughout the next wave of enforcement Bethany Beach Police, Dewey Beach Police, Delaware State Police, Dover Police, Newark Police, New Castle County Police, Rehoboth Beach Police will conduct patrols on high crash roadways and will cite violators of the state’s motorcycle safety laws.  They will be paying particular attention to speeding and impaired motorcyclists.

This wave comes after two successive motorcycle crash fatalities on May 18th & 19th.  The first crash involved a motorcyclist driving on a suspended licens and fictitious Delaware registration.  He passed another vehicle on a double yellow line while in a curve, and struck a pedestrian crossing the street.  The impact killed the pedestrian.  The second motorcyclist failed to negotiate a curve and crashed in the roadway and was killed.  Alcohol is considered a factor in the crash.

As the weather warms up, and more motorcyclists are on the roads, all drivers should be vigilant about sharing the road with motorcyclists.  They are easy to miss in a vehicle’s blind spot.  Always look twice before changing lanes or making turns at intersections.

Motorcycle riders can also go to www.MotorcyclesafetyDE.org, to find information about the proper tools and training to make them the safest rider they can be.  Any person who operates a motorcycle, or other 2-wheeled motor driven vehicle, must have a driver’s license with a motorcycle endorsement before taking to the road.  To obtain the endorsement a person must pass a written exam and road skills tests or complete an approved motorcycle rider education program.

OHS is offering the following safety tips for both motorists and motorcycle operators:

Motorcyclists

• Follow posted speed limits and keep all wheels on the ground at all times
• Do not try to share a lane with a vehicle, stay in your own
• Always signal your intentions before changing lanes or merging with traffic;
• Never drink and ride
• Watch out for loose sand, gravel, debris, and uneven and textured surfaces
• Do not pass on the shoulder
• Suit up for Safety – wear not only a helmet, but also appropriate eye gear, long sleeves, over the ankle boots and reflective material when riding at night
• Keep your skills up to date by signing up for a DMV Motorcycle Training Course, either beginner or advanced

Motorists:

• Always make a visual check for motorcycles by checking mirrors and blind spots before entering or leaving a lane of traffic and at intersections;
• Always allow a motorcyclist the full lane width;
• Always signal your intentions before changing lanes or merging with traffic;
• Allow more following distance, three or four sec­onds, when following a motorcycle, so the motorcyclist has enough time to maneuver or stop in an emer­gency; never tailgate.

For more information about the Respect Your Ride campaign visit http://ohs.delaware.gov/services/motorcycle.shtml or visit us on Facebook at ArriveAliveDE.  For more information about motorcycle endorsement and motorcycle rider education program visit http://www.dmv.de.gov/services/driver_services/drivers_license/dr_lic_motorcycle.shtml.

Dover – The following checkpoint is scheduled to take place Friday as part of the Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign:

Friday May 25th – Newport (NcCo DUI Task Force)

The Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign is a crackdown on impaired driving. Delaware will be conducting 2 DUI checkpoints each month until July when weekly DUI checkpoints will resume. This campaign is aimed at removing impaired drivers from our roadways and deterring those who might otherwise choose to drive after drinking alcohol or using drugs.

The Office of Highway Safety reminds motorists that traffic deaths kill and injure Delawareans nearly twice as often as violent crimes. For more information on Checkpoint Strikeforce visit www.ohs.delaware.gov and follow regular campaign updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DEHighwaySafe and Facebook www.facebook.com/ArriveAliveDE.

Are You That Guy? Aggressive Driving TV Commercial

Dover – During the first wave of enforcement, 5 drivers were found ‘to be that guy’ and cited for Aggressive Driving as part of the ‘Are You That Guy?’ aggressive driving campaign.

Delaware police officers also cited 529 individuals for speeding, 29 for failing to obey stop signs/red lights, 26 unsafe lane changes, 33 seat belt citations, 6 child restraint violations, 33 cell phone citations, and issued 177 other traffic citations during the first wave of enforcement.

When an officer observes a driver committing three or more traffic violations in a single incident,  the driver is charged with Aggressive Driving.  Violations include speeding, failing to yield right of way, tailgating, making improper lane changes, running red lights or stop signs, failure to use turn signals, and passing on the right,    Drivers cited for aggressive driving will be assessed 6 points on their licenses and charged fines between $100 and $300.   They are also required to pay an additional $100 fee to complete an 8 hour behavior modification/attitudinal driving course within 90 days after the conviction for aggressive driving. Failure to complete the course will result in suspension of the individuals’ driving privileges.

Delaware State Police in all three counties, along with the New Castle County, Dover, Milford and Wilmington Police agencies will continue to conduct aggressive driving patrols during the second wave of enforcement that begins June 4^th,  followed by 2 other waves in July and August.  Police are being asked to focus on the top four aggressive driving violations in the State of Delaware with the primary focus on drivers who fail to yield the right of way to other drivers.  Failure to yield the right of way violations include drivers who turn left in front of another vehicle, pull out in front of other vehicles at stop signs and fail to merge safely.  It is also the primary contributing factor in aggressive driving related fatal and injury crashes.

In 2011, 39% of all fatal crashes were related to acts of aggressive driving. Currently in 2012, 12 of the 30 fatal crashes (40%) have been attributed to aggressive driving behaviors; 6 for failure to grant right of way, 2 for speed, 1 for failure to obey stop sign and 3 for driving over the center line.

To learn more about aggressive driving and find out if you are ‘that guy’ take the quiz here www.AggressivedrivingDE.com. For more information on Respect The Sign campaign or any of the other OHS campaigns visit www.ohs.delaware.gov, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ArriveAliveDE or follow us on Twitter @DEHighwaySafe.

Dover – The following checkpoint is scheduled to take place Friday as part of the Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign:

Friday May 18th – Wilmington (NcCo DUI Task Force)

The Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign is a crackdown on impaired driving. Delaware will be conducting 2 DUI checkpoints each month until July when weekly DUI checkpoints will resume. This campaign is aimed at removing impaired drivers from our roadways and deterring those who might otherwise choose to drive after drinking alcohol or using drugs.

The Office of Highway Safety reminds motorists that traffic deaths kill and injure Delawareans nearly twice as often as violent crimes. For more information on Checkpoint Strikeforce visit www.ohs.delaware.gov and follow regular campaign updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DEHighwaySafe and Facebook www.facebook.com/ArriveAliveDE.

Dover – ‘Back country road, early morning nobody else is out there, what could happen? They did crash and her head went through the windshield’…’The one who was not wearing the seat belt was completely ejected from the vehicle’…’She was ejected from the vehicle that she was in…’ These are just some of the stories of crashes that real Delaware paramedics have encountered on Delaware roadways and is also one of the many reasons the Office of Highway Safety (OHS) along with officers from 17 participating State, County and municipal law enforcement agencies are launching the eleventh annual “Click It or Ticket” seat belt enforcement campaign starting Monday May 14th.

Click It or Ticket is a high visibility enforcement and public awareness campaign aimed at saving lives by getting more people to wear their seat belts.  This year the Click It or Ticket campaign message “Seat Belts Save More Lives Than We Do” speak about real life unbelted crashes, injuries, and fatals encountered by Delaware paramedics.

“Our paramedics see firsthand the serious injuries and deaths resulting from crashes when seat belts are not used,” said Governor Markell. “It is important we heed their advice and wear our seat belts on every trip.”

Extra enforcement will be conducted for a two week period beginning May 14^th, in the form of traffic safety checkpoints and saturation patrols statewide. Because fewer than 1/3 of Delaware’s unrestrained fatals occur during the daytime, the focus will be on night time enforcement. Last year, 50% of all occupant fatalities were unrestrained; a significant increase over 2010 when 34% were unrestrained.

“Each year far too many Delawareans die in fatal crashes. Buckling up is one quick and easy way to keep our loved ones safe as we travel throughout the State. I encourage you to make it a habit every time you get into a vehicle. You never know when it may just save your life.” said Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security Secretary Lewis D. Schiliro.

Delaware law requires drivers and all passengers, including those in the back seat, to wear a seat belt.  An officer can pull over a driver if they see any person in the vehicle not wearing a seat belt, even if there is no other violation.  Officers will be issuing citations for seat belt violations as part of a zero tolerance policy.  The $83.50 seat belt ticket goes to the driver no matter who is unbuckled in the vehicle.

“What could you do with $83.50? Dinner and a movie? More downloads on iTunes?” asks Jana Simpler, Director for the Office of Highway Safety. “Don’t risk a ticket or worse. Buckle up, every trip, every time.”

Enforcement is being accompanied by statewide public awareness and paid media in the forms of billboards, radio, Pandora radio, T.V., print, and internet advertising and will also be accompanied by outreach activities to high schools and in the community.  Seat belt kits were distributed to high schools.  The kits included several fun ideas and activities for the schools to help teach students about the importance of bucking up such as setting up a faux checkpoint as students leave the school parking lot, and seat belt e-card students can create on Facebook and share with parents and friends and if their card is ‘liked’ they are entered into a drawing to win a gift card for dinner at Grotto Pizza with their family.

OHS community outreach events to promote seat belt safety include seat belt musical chairs at the Wilmington Blue Rocks May 18^th & 19^th, and Dover International Speedway June 1-3^rd.  On June 2^nd NASCAR driver J.J. Yeley will be playing seat belt musical chairs with a few lucky fans and winners of all the musical chairs contests will receive an OHS or Blue Rocks prize pack.

Get the facts:

• Did you know that 50% of all occupant fatalities in Delaware last year were individuals not wearing a seat belt and that fewer than 1/3 of Delaware’s unrestrained fatals occur during the daytime.
• Wearing a seat belt decreases your risk of being seriously injured or killed in a crash by approximately 50%.
• Hospital data shows that unbelted occupants in crashes are 3 times more likely to require a hospital stay. On average, hospital costs for an unbelted crash victim are 55% higher than those for a belted crash victim.
• Strong seat belt laws protect families.  When parents are buckled up, 90% of the time their children are too.

For more information on Click It or Ticket enforcement results and a look at updated campaign materials, please visit www.ohs.delaware.gov, like us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ArriveAliveDE or follow us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/DEHighwaySafe .