No doubt you've heard the wise cracks and myths about traffic tickets "Why aren't the cops out doing L important things like catching bad guys Or how about this one "tickets are all about raising revenue." I want to take this opportunity to reexamine with you the highway safety dimensions of the traffic ticket, because highway safety is what the ticket is all about. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either very misinformed or cynical, or both. Do police put too much emphasis on writing tickets and not enough on catching criminals? No and I'll show you why. Do traffic tickets generate money? Of course they do. But does that mean that revenues is the reason for the ticket? Absolutely not, and again, I will provide substantial evidence here to show why.

Over 4 million traffic tickets are issued each year in New York State. Judges and court clerks handle each and every one, accounting for a substantial amount of each court's caseload. It is only natural that we can get bogged down in the day-to-day processing of such a large volume of tickets and perhaps a little too often, succumb to some of the negative connotations associated with tickets. What too often gets forgotten are the reasons for the traffic ticket in the first place. First of all, let's look at the facts.

FACT

o Approximately 1, 500 people are killed each year and 300,000 are injured in New York as the result of a traffic crash

o Of those, a majority are caused by a hazardous violation, including speeding and driving while intoxicated

o Nearly 50 percent of vehicle occupants killed in crashes are unbelted

o Wearing safety restraints reduces the risk of a fatality by 45% in cars, 60% in light trucks (includes SUV and minivan)

o Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for children

o Since 1975 seatbelt use has saved an estimated 147,000 lives in the U.S.

o Since 1990 vehicle miles traveled (VMT) have increased about 45% while new highway construction has increased about 2%

o Approximately 4 million tickets are issued in New York each year

o Education alone cannot reduce hazardous violations

o Simply passing laws cannot either

o Enj is critical to changing behavior

o Surveys show overwhelming support for strict enforcement of traffic laws

Where is the evidence which shows that traffic tickets are issued for anything other than safety reasons? I'm not talking about the rhetoric or hyperbole one often hears on radio talk shows or from the disgruntled guy who received a ticket recently and now has an axe to grind. I'm talking about statistics, data, surveys, research, etc. It simply does not exist and that is why you never hear about it. You hear all kinds of cynical talk from folks who have an axe to grind or are looking to stir the pot on the afternoon drive home radio talk show. And why doesn't this evidence exist? Because the traffic ticket is all about safety, saving lives and mitigating injuries.

CRASHES AND VIOLENT CRIME

Myth - The police should be doing more important things than writing tickets such as catching criminals. Again, you probably heard it from someone who is misinformed, cynical or perhaps disgruntled after having received a ticket. I heard it many times while on patrol.

Fact - Traffic crashes far outpace violent crime in terms of causing injuries and fatalities. In 1998, 1, 505 people were killed in traffic crashes in New York, while 922 people wereo killed as the result of violent crime. In the same year, 28 1,541 people were injured in traffic crashes and 114,896 people were injured during a violent crime incident. If you think about it, especially those of you in rural or suburban areas, those margins are probably even wider, since much of the violent crime occurs in big cities.

Not to say that addressing violent crime is not important, it is, and the police are on the front line addressing it. I am merely using this as an example of how our perceptions are influenced. Violent crime is often headline news while the serious traffic crash is more often placed in less conspicuous areas of print media or television news. This has the effect of diminishing, in our minds, the magnitude and severity of the problem of traffic crashes. As a result, we begin to accept traffic crashes as an unavoidable cost of living in the modern age.

PREVENTION

Illustrating this comparison between traffic crashes and violent crime leads to another factor which is relevant to this discussion, that is, prevention. One of the things that make traffic crashes so tragic is that they are preventable in the vast majority of cases. It is much more difficult to make that argument as it relates to violent crime. For every one of those preventable, debilitating injuries or deaths that occur on the highways, there is a wide circle of family and friends left behind, left with grief and anger and left without a loved one for life. Again most of the time these crashes are preventable. We simply do not have to accept crash tragedies as a cost of driving.

You may have noticed the use of the word "crash" in this article, as opposed to the more traditional, "accident." This is by design. Traffic safety professionals now use the word crash to describe a vehicular collision. Why? Quite simply, these collisions are, for the most part, preventable. They are not accidents; they were not caused accidentally. In fact, as you know, motorists often act intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or with criminal negligence with respect to the crash causing violation.

Seatbelts provide a glaring example of the importance or prevention. Stories abound about people who were belted in a vehicle survived a crash because they were wearing their seatbelt. It never ceased to amaze me as I rolled up on a crash scene only to discover that the person standing next to the overturned, wrecked car was the driver! If fact, I would at times call for an ambulance as I approached the scene, feeling certain from the looks of the car that someone was surely seriously hurt or killed. Imagine my surprise and relief, relief because I wouldn't have to attend to injuries, often gruesome in nature, and relief at not having to make a death notification to the next of kin.

PERCEPTION OF RISK

Let's talk for a moment about the importance of perception of the risk, specifically, the perception of risk of obtaining a ticket or being arrested. Perception of risk plays an important role in traffic safety. What it means is, what do people think is the level of risk associated with certain behavior and what are the chances of being ticketed for this behavior. Passing a law is one thing and the first important step in deterring deviant behavior (I use the word deviant here not to indicate deviance in the prurient sense, but rather behavior in general that deviates from the norm). Once laws are passed however unless people believe that the laws will be enforced and that sure and swift (relatively) justice will be exacted, these laws will largely be ignored.

One only need look at a recent study of cell phone use in cars to grasp this idea. This study, by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nationally recognized authority, found that compliance with New York's cell phone law has slipped substantially. The study also found that the perception of risk Of receiving a ticket for using a cell phone in a car was relatively low (expect more cell phone tickets in the future).

Driving while intoxicated may even be a better example of the perception of risk. Years ago, prior to the early 1980's society did not look at the DWI the same way we do now. It was not as taboo as it is today to drive intoxicated. Officers did not make nearly the number of arrests as they do today. What was the effect of this? Vastly greater numbers of people were killed each year in alcohol related traffic crashes. Today there is no tolerance in the police community when it comes to drunk driving and it is not socially acceptable. Consequently, it is no coincidence that there is a corresponding increase in the perception of risk of arrest by the public.

DETERRENCE

Deterrence is defined by Webster's as a negative motivational influence. In this case the ticket, arrest, and punishment, including the, possibility of a fine, act as negative motivational influences. That's where fines come into play. Fines are part of the punishment, producing deterrence, not part of some revenue-raising scheme. Punishment, whether a fine or a visit to the lock-up, is an essential part of our criminal justice system.

Deterrence in the case of traffic safety derives from a synergy of good laws, education, strict enforcement and with it, a strong perception of risk, along with swift and sure punishment. It is this combination of factors which allows deterrence to manifest in our driving population and on our highways. However, enforcement alone cannot create deterrence, neither can education. The success of traffic safety relies on comprehensive strategies and partnership and the resultant deterrence affected by them. Once we achieve a high level of deterrence, we have a winning situation because motorists will behave as a matter of course, without having to receive a ticket.

CONCLUSION

We have made substantial progress in terms of reducing highway facilities. In the early 1970's over 3,000 people were killed on New York's highways each year, at a time when far fewer miles were traveled (resulting in a much higher fatality rate). We have reduced both total facilities and rates. Unfortunately, this downward trend has slowed and we have seen a leveling off in the last few years in terms of fatalities and fatality rates. We need to improve on the strategies we now employ and incorporate new and innovative ideas, including issuing more tickets for specific violations.

When can you expect to see fewer tickets in your courts? At about the same time you stop seeing vehicles passing you at high rates of speed, tailgating, cutting others off and running red lights and stop signs. About the same time you stop hearing stories on the evening news about another drunk driving crash that injured of killed an innocent person. And about the same time you stop reading about the person killed in the car crash simply because they were not wearing their seatbelt. Until then, expect the police to do their jobs by issuing tickets in an effort to save lives. And it would serve everyone well if those of us who deal with the traffic ticket, from issuing it to adjudicating it, remember the reason in the first lace