1ST LT. CHRISTOPHER BANKS
151st Chemical, Biological, Radiological
and Nuclear Battalion Operations Division
Alabama Army National Guard
Gadsden, Alabama
From 2002-2007, I was a patrol deputy for the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office in Mountain Home, Idaho. During this time, the government enacted new seat belt laws and provided funding to offices statewide to educate the citizens on the changes. My department was lucky enough to receive some of this funding, and I was given the opportunity to work overtime in order to accomplish the state’s mission.
The new law increased the amount of the seat belt citation from $5 to $10 and also doubled the fine for not having a child properly restrained. It also stated that anyone in the vehicle 18 years and older could be issued a citation. This new law was still a secondary violation, however, so the individual had to be breaking another traffic law, such as speeding, before you could make a stop.
I’d volunteered to complete 35 hours of seat belt enforcement on my days off from work with the mindset that I was going to influence as many people as possible to buckle up. Normally, I sat just outside the city limits with an overpass obscuring my patrol car’s line of sight so it was easier to catch someone speeding. By the time I completed my overtime, I’d made about 140 traffic stops, wrote approximately 85 citations and handed out numerous pamphlets explaining the changes in the law. Little did I know the impact one of these traffic stops would later have for one man.
There was nothing really out of the ordinary about the stop other than it lasted a little longer than usual. The driver had children in the vehicle with him, so I took some extra time to explain how the proper wear of a seat belt could save his life if he ever were to be involved in a crash. He told me he had never thought about wearing his seat belt. Ultimately, I did write him a citation, but I believed the education I provided him was enough to change his perspective on wearing a seat belt.
The next day, the records clerk at the sheriff’s office approached me to talk about that traffic stop. She explained that the man I had pulled over was her friend, and he’d told her that my seat belt talk had opened his eyes to the importance of buckling up. Over the next two weeks, the records clerk repeatedly thanked me for doing my job. After that, I didn’t think about it again until an event a few months later.
It was July 16, 2004, and I was about 2½ hours into my shift when I received a call about a vehicle-versus-train crash with injuries just north of Mountain Home. Elmore County has multiple Union Pacific Railroad crossings within the Mountain Home city limits as well as throughout the county. Over the years, I’d responded to several of these types of crashes since there are no barriers to block the road, just audible alarms. I was about 10 miles from the scene but knew I was the closest deputy. I notified dispatch that I would be taking the call, turned on my lights and siren and proceeded to the scene.
When I arrived, I noticed a Ford pickup overturned in a ditch on the east side of the railroad tracks and a boat and trailer on the west side. The train engine was idling about 300 meters past the railroad crossing. As extrication personnel worked to free a man who was trapped inside the truck, I closed the road to other traffic.
I began my investigation and learned there had been three men in the pickup. Paramedics had already called for a Life Flight helicopter to transport them to Boise for treatment. I was able to obtain the two passengers’ personal information, but I hadn’t had a chance to talk to the driver. I knew my window to interview him was closing, so I walked over to where he was being treated by paramedics.
The driver’s face was covered in blood. When I asked for his name, he replied, “Don’t you recognize me, Deputy Banks? You stopped me a couple months ago and spent a lot of time explaining how wearing a seat belt could save my life. Since then, every time I get in my vehicle I have worn my seat belt and have made everyone in the vehicle wear their seat belt.”
I was stunned and had to take a step back to process what the driver had just said to me. I realized that this man was our records clerk’s friend. Shortly after that, the helicopter was on the ground and the three men were loaded and taken to Boise. I continued with my crash investigation, which included speaking with an investigator from Union Pacific who had since arrived on the scene. After we compared notes, he told me he’d travel to Boise later to interview the three individuals involved in the crash.
Several days later, I received a phone call from the investigator. He’d interviewed the three men and said there was one thing that really stood out. The driver had said I saved his life by writing him that $10 citation for a seat belt violation and taking the time to show him I really cared about his safety. The investigator said this was the first time he’d ever heard something like this and was considering asking his supervisor whether they could publish a story about the accident in the Union Pacific magazine. I was pretty proud to hear that.
I’ve had several close relatives serve in law enforcement or the military, so I guess you could say it’s a family affair. When I first became a patrol deputy in 1998, my goal was to someday make a difference in someone’s life. This accident could have been catastrophic for this man and his family, but it had the best of endings because he chose to wear a seat belt. The fact that he eventually made a full recovery means that traffic stop will always be one of my greatest accomplishments.
Editor’s note: The author left law enforcement in late 2008 to take a full-time job with the Idaho Army National Guard.