FINALLY, Ameri-
Of course, that still leaves a stubborn 17 percent unbuckled.
Convincing the holdouts has been difficult.
Men ages 18 to 34 are the demographic group most likely to ride or drive without wearing a seat belt, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Pickup truck drivers, teens, rural drivers and nighttime drivers also have higher rates of non-use of seat belts.
Plenty of young, male, truck-driving insomniacs who live in small towns probably do buckle up. But the NHTSA has to pick areas for improvement, and crash data seem to support the targets. In Virginia, among 18- to 34-year-old men who died in vehicle crashes last year, 78 percent of drivers and 77 percent passengers were not wearing seat belts. That's more than three out of four crash victims.
Fredericksburg-area law enforcement agencies will be checking for seat-belt use throughout the month, part of the national "Click It or Ticket" campaign.
Virginia is a secondary seat-belt enforcement state, where a driver can receive a ticket for not wearing a seat belt if he is stopped for another reason.
Dear Kelly: A question was asked over three years ago and VDOT said they would fix the problem. However, the issue was not fixed.
The question basically stated: At the intersection of Southpoint II and U.S. 1, in the right-turn lane in front of the Mattress Discounters to go south on U.S. 1, there is a sign that says "Right Lane Must Turn Right." However, the next right turn is to get into the Applebee's and Starbucks parking area.
Is there any way to add "At Signal" to that sign for people making the right turn to go south on U.S. 1?
The traffic backs up here every day almost to the Wal-Mart, but everyone is already in the turning lane to get to U.S. 1 rather than the shopping center. I was just hoping VDOT would have this fixed by now. Thank you!
--Jacob Newman, Spotsylvania
It's great to see I've maintained a reader for at least three years! Thank you.
I sent your question to VDOT. Three years ago the shopping-center developer said he'd work with VDOT to fix the sign, but since I'm not sure what VDOT's response was to him at the time, they may never have agreed to change the sign.
Back to 2009. "The right-turn lane in question extends from the Wal-Mart entrance all the way to Route 1 and may be used to make a right turn at any access point in between," wrote VDOT spokeswoman Tina Bundy in an e-mail. "There are right turn arrows painted on the pavement at several points in that lane all the way to the intersection to supplement the sign. The sign and pavement arrows are designed to communicate that the right-turn lane terminates at the intersection and is not a thru lane. There is no restriction on turning right at any access point along that lane, or a requirement to do so until the driver reaches the intersection with Route 1. At that point the right-turn lane terminates."
For regular readers of this column, this all harkens back to the when-can-I-get-in-the-turn-lane conundrum we've been debating in this space over the past month.
Drivers are supposed to pay attention to the dashed lines on the ground, and enter the turn lane just before they approach their destination. That works in theory--and that's the proper way to drive, according to state agencies--but that doesn't hold up well in Northern Virginia.
People are afraid no one will let them in if they wait until just before their turn to move into the right-turn lane. Usually, they are right. They will have a hard time getting in. People will honk and shout obscenities. So drivers learn through trial and error to get in the lane back at Wal-Mart. I'm not saying this is right. I'm just saying this is reality.
So, back to the sign. I missed this when I answered the question three years ago, but I interpret it as an all-purpose sign for that lane.
If you get in that lane, you have to turn right when you leave it, whether that is to pick up a mattress or a frappuccino or to head down U.S. 1. What you cannot do is decide to zoom straight across U.S. 1 or suddenly decide to get in the left turn lane.
Dear Kelly: Very pleased to see some efforts to slow things down at the intersection of State Routes 3 and 621 (Orange Plank Road).
My only concern is that the 45-mph-intersection signs are way too close to the intersection and in my opinion will not deter the numerous drivers playing the "chicken game."
Why not pull back the 45-mph signs a little farther on each side and give the county and state mounties an opportunity to bake some of those "chickens" that could care less and will probably disregard the new posted intersection speed?
--Gary Banfield, Spotsylvania
VDOT spokeswoman Tina Bundy wrote a response to your question. "The signs recently posted on Route 3 approaching Route 621 (Orange Plank Rd) do not delineate a new speed zone. They are designed to provide warning and advisory information to motorists. They have been placed approximately 1000 ft. in advance of the intersection which falls within the recommended parameters for this device," Bundy wrote in an e-mail.
So those "chickens" should be moving at 45 mph well before and after the intersection, too.
Kelly Hannon is The Free Lance-Star's transportation reporter. If you have questions, send them to Getting There, c/o The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401; or you may fill out the Getting There form on the Web at fredericksburg.com.