NEWS ALERT



For further information please contact:

Capt. Christian T. Ricks

May 18, 2006

573-526-6115





EMPHASIS: Coalition for Roadway Safety and the Highway Patrol demonstrate the Patrol’s new Seat Belt Convincers



On Thursday, May 25, 2006, the news media is invited to a press conference hosted by the Coalition for Roadway Safety, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the Missouri Department of Transportation. The purpose of the press conference is to discuss and demonstrate the new Seat Belt Convincers the Coalition has purchased for the Highway Patrol. The news conference will be held at the Patrol’s CDL testing site at 5621 Raptor Road, Jefferson City. The news conference is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. and will include a demonstration of the new Seat Belt Convincers.



LeAnna Depue, director of the Office of Highway Safety and chairperson of the Coalition for Highway Safety; Colonel Roger D. Stottlemyre, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol; and Pete Rahn, director of the Department of Transportation, are scheduled to speak at the news conference. Members of the media and the Coalition for Roadway Safety will then be invited to ride on the Seat Belt Convincer. The Convincer is a device that stimulates a 5 mph crash, showing the occupant how seat belts can help protect people in motor vehicles.



The Coalition for Roadway Safety, working in conjunction with the Missouri Safety Center at Central Missouri State University, has purchased nine convincers from Kansas State University, where they were manufactured. The convincers will be housed at the nine troop headquarters of the Highway Patrol, and will be available for demonstrations throughout those areas of the state.



“In the midst of our national “Click It or Ticket” Campaign, it seems only appropriate that we should roll out our new Seat Belt Convincers,” said Depue. “Our citizens will see firsthand how well seat belts protect the occupants of motor vehicles without having to go through a traffic crash to prove that point.”



Col. Stottlemyre added, “We know we can save more lives and keep people from being seriously injured if we can just get them to wear their seat belts. These Convincers are just one more tool in our education package designed to help us get more Missourians to buckle up.”