Click It To Ride

There are special exemptions in most seat belt policies. The Idaho State Police policy says officers are exempt from seat belt usage when, for operational or tactical reasons in an emergency vehicle, the seat belt would affect the employee's safety or ability to perform his duties; when necessary for demonstration purposes in the controlled environment of the driving course during training; or when physically impossible to use as intended.

Louisiana state law says personnel and passengers shall utilize the seat belts and other required restraint systems unless an emergency dictates that such use would be dangerous or hazardous.

Results of seat belt compliance is often dramatic. According to chief of police Chris Burbank, the Salt Lake City (Utah) Police Department has not had an officer killed in a moving police vehicle accident since the department started requiring officers to buckle up.

With traffic-related incidents as the growing cause of in-the-line-of-duty deaths, its time for officers to learn a new click.