In two separate initiatives last week, the South Miami Police Department made a strong push to improve traffic safety in South Florida.

First came the department's participation in the Buckle Up Florida campaign in conjunction with Buckle Up USA. It was one of four enforcement programs scheduled for the year to raise awareness of state seat belt laws.

"It is a coordinated, concerted effort by and among law enforcement agencies throughout the state to raise awareness of seat belt laws through the enforcement of those laws," said assistant police chief Greg Feldman.

The enforecment waves are done during major holiday weekends during the year -- Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and National Lifesaver Holiday Weekend December 15-17.

"Being unbuckled is a secondary offense," said Lieutenant John Barzola. "So, in order to get cited for it you have to be stopped for a primary offense like speeding or running a red light."

Feldman said that makes it much more difficult for officers to enforce the law.

"It's a shame," he said, "that once again for the 10th year in a row the legislature didn't make the failure to comply with seat belt laws a primary offense. It's been proven to increase seat belt use by 10 to 12% if you designate it as a primary offense, which would put us in the 70 percentiles in terms of usage; a good, but not a great number."

Feldman, who has been with the department since 1980, also cited a recent Department of Justice survey that emphasized how highly the general public regarded traffic safety. According to the survey, he said, traffic safety is among the top three concerns of Americans, ranked above class one offenses like murder and arson.

Barzola wasn't surprised by those numbers. Whenever he talks to city residents, he said, their number one concern is traffic safety.

"Three-hundred people die in this county every year in traffic accidents," Barzola said, "and that number isn't declining. It has leveled off in the last couple of years."

Additionally, it is the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 6 and 14.

Feldman explained that increased enforcement periods can produce other benefits. He said that during a well-documented increased enforcement period in Peoria, Illinois from 1994-1996 when traffic citations increased by 24 percent, DUI arrests rose by 11 percent and officer initiated

activity climbed by 28 percent, while traffic crashes fell 21 percent, violent crime declined 10 percent and property crimes dropped by 12%.

"The Buckle Up Florida program," Feldman said, "allows us to not only increase awareness of the seatbelt laws, but also increase our presence on the roads and we can realize the benefits of that as well."

South Miami Police in Memorial Day checkpoint Two South Miami police officers, Max Lopez and Eric Pulido, participated in the DUI checkpoint on the Macarthur Causeway last weekend. It was a countywide effort and officers from Hialeah, Coral Gables, West Miami, the City of Miami, Miami Beach and the Florida Highway Patrol participated.

City of Miami police officer Pedro Beltran, who coordinated the checkpoint, was very enthusiastic about the participation of the various agencies.

"I'm ecstatic," he said. "A lot of agencies, especially considering how regularly we do these things, could easily say that they have another commitment, but they didn't. Even if we get just one person off the road that's been drinking, if you can maybe save one life, then a project like this more than pays for itself--and you can't imagine what a deterrent effect this has on drunk drivers."