Full Notification

On February 22, 2013, Officer Joe Dusel spotted a female, not wearing her seatbelt at the intersection of Geer and Monte Vista. Officer Dusel is a motorcycle officer whose primary responsibility for the enforcement of traffic laws. He stopped her and issued her a citation. She was upset with the citation that was going to cost her nearly $170. She felt the seatbelt messed her hair, wrinkled her clothes and that she was a good driver so she didn’t need it.

She and her parents came to Turlock Police Department on March 26, 2013. They asked to speak to Officer Dusel. When they met, her mother began to cry. She explained that she and her husband had repeatedly told their daughter to wear her seatbelt, but the young woman refused. When she got the seatbelt ticket, her mother told her, “good!” Her parents went on to relate the following story.

The female received her ticket on February 22, 2013. Five days later she was on Santa Fe Road traveling at about 55 MPH. She was begrudgingly wearing her seatbelt to avoid another hefty fine. A car pulled out from Berkeley Avenue, colliding with her. Her vehicle left the road and rolled two to four times. The seatbelt kept her in the vehicle. The airbags and structure of the vehicle did their jobs as they were designed. The car came to rest on its wheels. She remained conscious the entire time and remembered different people telling her not to move. She was taken to an emergency room in the ambulance. She suffered moderate to severe injuries as a result of the collision.

The CHP officers and other emergency services personnel on the scene told her and her parents she should’ve been dead. The ONLY thing that radically changed the course of her life was the use of her seatbelt - something that until receiving a citation only five days earlier, she refused to use. She and her parents credit Officer Dusel with saving her life because he was doing his job and protecting the public. In this case, he was protecting her from her bad habit.

“Collisions in modern vehicles have a tremendously higher survivability rate if seatbelts are properly used” said Sergeant Neil Cervenka, Turlock Traffic Safety Unit Supervisor. “Air bags and crumple zones are designed to supplement seatbelts, not replace them. This is an excellent example that the collision was the result of another driver and she could not avoid it.”

Sergeant Cervenka also said, “Traffic officers’ mission is the reduction of collision related injuries and death through education and enforcement. Many people complain or are upset when they get a citation. We, as police officers, understand that. However, we also understand that the citation is meant to correct negative driving behavior. In this case it did – and she is here to prove it.”

The Turlock Police Department is an active participant in the Crime Stoppers Program. Callers can leave an anonymous tip by calling Crime Stoppers at (209) 521-4636 and may be eligible for a cash reward.

This information is being released by Turlock Police Department Sergeant Neil Cervenka

Any media requests should contact:
Sergeant Stephen Webb
Office of Professional Standards
Turlock Police Department
Office phone - (209) 664-7318
Email – [email protected]