Dad says they just forgot to buckle up

Billy Ray Cyrus says he and his daughter, the Hannah Montana actress Miley Cyrus, simply forgot to buckle up for one of their scenes in their new hit movie.

"We got caught up in the moment of filming, and we made a mistake and forgot to buckle our seat belts," the country music star said Wednesday on People magazine's Web site. "Seat belt safety is extremely important."

Consumer Reports magazine had noticed that the Cyruses were not wearing seat belts as they rode in the back of a Range Rover during Disney's Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert.

Don Mays, the director of product safety at Consumers Union, which publishes Yonkers, N.Y.-based Consumer Reports, said Wednesday, "We applaud the Cyrus family for recognizing that wearing seat belts in rear seats is essential."

The magazine had noted that 65 percent of the 13-to-15-year-olds killed in auto accidents in 2006 were not wearing seat belts. Miley Cyrus is 15.

MEL GIBSON MEETS TERMS OF NO-CONTEST PLEA

Mel Gibson has met terms of his no-contest plea to misdemeanor drunken driving after his notorious 2006 arrest in which he made derogatory comments about Jews, a judge in Malibu, Calif., found Wednesday. Gibson will remain on probation for about 18 more months, but won't have to report at Superior Court again after Judge Lawrence Mira approved his progress.

"Assuming there is no violation on the terms of the probation, it will be finished at the end of 36 months," Deputy District Attorney Gina Satriano said outside court.

After his no-contest plea, Gibson was sentenced to three years of probation, paid about $1,600 in fines and had to attend Alcoholics Anonymous and other meetings.

Satriano said Gibson attended five AA meetings every week for nearly five months and three per week for seven months. He also completed a 90-day program for drunken-driving offenders that included individual and group counseling, Satriano said.

She said Gibson has also volunteered to make a public service announcement.

Gibson has repeatedly apologized for making the derogatory comments about Jews to the sheriff's deputy who arrested him.

JACKIE CHAN PROMOTES OLYMPIC EQUESTRIAN EVENT

Jackie Chan saddled up for a video to promote the Beijing Olympics' equestrian event. In the 30-second video, the 53-year-old Rush Hour star urges audiences to visit his hometown of Hong Kong to watch the event and introduces various local tourist sites, Mayee Tang, a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Tourism Board, which is producing the video, said Wednesday.

Chan recorded the dialogue in both English and Mandarin Chinese, and the video was to be aired in mainland China and foreign markets, Tang said.

Photos posted on Chan's official Web site show the action star sitting on a horse, resplendent in riding gear, including a black helmet, black suit jacket, white tie and black boots.

A rash of equine diseases and substandard quarantine procedures in China forced Beijing to hand the equestrian events to Hong Kong, which has a well-established racing circuit but few facilities for dressage and show-jumping events.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club, which controls horse racing in the former British colony, has spent about $100 million on upgrading existing venues and building new ones for the Olympic equestrian competition, which will take place Aug. 9 to Aug. 20.

---