The tie that binds Turlock officer, Hughson family? A seat belt

Megann Scott has had some big changes in her life – marrying and becoming a mom – since she first encountered Joe Dusel, a Turlock police traffic officer, four years ago. One thing that hasn’t changed is her gratitude to Dusel for writing her a citation back then.

Check that. The former Megann Heilman’s appreciation has grown as her family has, first with husband Jared, whom she married in November 2015, and then with son Mason, born Dec. 16.

A mere five days after Dusel ticketed the Hughson resident on Feb. 22, 2013, for not wearing a seat belt, she was driving about 55 mph on Santa Fe Avenue when another driver pulled in front of her from Berkeley Road and their vehicles collided.

Scott’s rolled twice, and injuries landed her in a hospital for five days. At least part of that time was in the neuro intensive care unit for a back injury.

Her mother, Monika Heilman, added, “All the windows were out of the car. Had she not had her seat belt on, she would have been ejected, there’s just no doubt.”

Heilman, Scott and little Mason paid Dusel a visit at the Turlock Police Department last week to bring him some sweet treats and sweet thoughts to share with his colleagues. Scott and her family faithfully have done so each year, around the anniversary of the Feb. 27 crash.

The reason they’ve made it a tradition is simple, 25-year-old Scott said: “Because he saved my life.”

It’s meant a lot to Dusel, too. “It’s awesome,” he said of the annual reunion. “Initially, I was very appreciative that her and her family came down to the police station to tell her story. It was very rewarding moment, that I was able to give a positive influence in her life and she took that moment to learn from it and start wearing her seat belt and shortly later be in that horrific traffic accident.”

“The pictures I put together are usually ones of her car, where she’s come from (such as physical therapy) and where she is now,” Heilman said. “I bring him up to date with what’s going on in her life.”

In turn, Dusel shares her story with fellow officers, he said. “It’s a good reminder to everyone who works here about the impact we have on an individual’s life and their extended family – their moms, their dads, their grandparents – because it doesn’t just affect that one person.”

He’s given countless tickets and seen the whole spectrum of driver, he said. Those who receive the citation politely, those who react angrily. Those who don’t even acknowledge they’re not wearing a seat belt vs. those who quickly figure out why they’re being pulled over and scramble to buckle up as Dusel approaches their vehicle.

Thing is, while a driver can fasten a seat belt as a cop comes up (not that it will get him or her out of that ticket), the same isn’t true when a crash is about to occur. Even if you see it coming, “it happens in a split second and there’s not a lot you can do to prepare yourself,” Dusel said.

Scott said it didn’t immediately click with her – forgive the bad pun – that day why Dusel pulled her over. She had always driven unbelted because she didn’t want to muss up her hair or wrinkle her clothes, she said.

“My dad is a police officer” in Modesto, she said Thursday. “I really should have known better.”

Initially, the expense of the ticket was enough to get her to buckle up regularly. With the crash just days later, there was little time to see if the citation alone would have led to a lasting habit.

Now, she’s adamant that anyone in a vehicle with her buckles up.

Near the end of their visit Thursday, Heilman choked up talking about her daughter’s ticket four years ago and the man who wrote it. “It’s just part of his job and I know that’s how he feels, that this is his job, but what he did gave us our daughter and our grandchild, and we’re just forever grateful.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2017 at 4:07 PM with the headline "The tie that binds Turlock officer, Hughson family? A seat belt."