Member Profile
One of the Idaho Seat Belt Coalition’s Co-Chairs, Captain Ben Wolfinger of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, provides the leadership and compassion necessary to promote an effective seat belt law and make an impact on individuals in Idaho.
While one of Captain Wolfinger’s main goals is to help prevent serious injuries and deaths by educating Idahoans about the importance of seat belt use, his real mission is to alleviate the tragedies of victims, suffered by family and friends. “The family members left behind have to move past the devastation and pick up the pieces. Not only does law enforcement have to investigate the fatal crash, they are responsible for telling loved ones that someone died in a vehicle crash and could have survived had they just buckled up,” said Wolfinger.
Captain Wolfinger also assists in working with the local media to raise awareness about the importance of seat belts, in addition to visiting schools and community organizations promoting seat belt usage. The coalition would like to thank Co-Chair Captain Ben Wolfinger for his time and effort in saving Idaho lives.
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A Personal Recap of the Empty Shoes Events from Mary Hunter
The Empty Shoes Events were held statewide during the week of January 22, 2007 in an effort to bring visibility to the need to get all Idahoans to buckle up. Many of the speakers made it evident that Idaho deserves an effective seat belt law, and that we can’t sustain our current 80% seat belt use rate due to Idaho’s inability to qualify for funding to sustain our seat belt education and enforcement programs.
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Idaho Legislative Update
Efforts to improve Idaho’s safety restraint laws are underway. The Senate Transportation Committee has approved legislation to go to print that would remove the Nursing Baby Exemption from Idaho’s child passenger safety law, Idaho Code 49-672. This exemption allows vehicle passengers and/or drivers to remove a baby or toddler from its car seat, while the car is moving, to attend to its physiological needs. According to Mary Hunter at the Idaho Transportation Department, this exemption is one that has prevented the state from qualifying for seat belt incentive funds since the year 2000—a loss of about $250,000 a year.
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Nampa Mayor's Teen Council Receives Teen Driver Safety Grant
The Nampa Mayor’s Teen Council has been awarded a $3,000 grant from State Farm Insurance for its Seatbelt Education program. The check was presented to the Teen Council during the Nampa City Council meeting on Monday, February 5, 2007.
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