DECATUR -- As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches and more drivers hit the roads, the Decatur Police Department reminds all drivers of the importance of seat belt use.
This annual campaign is part of the United States Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's "Click It or Ticket" high-visibility enforcement effort that runs from Nov. 16-29.
Aimed at enforcing seat belt use to help keep people safe, the national seat belt campaign runs concurrently with this busy travel season.
"During the Click It or Ticket campaign, we will be working with our fellow law enforcement officers across local and state lines to ensure the seat belt safety message gets out to all drivers and passengers," said Steven Grizzle, Decatur Police Chief. "By far, buckling up is the simplest thing you can do to limit injury or save your life during a crash. We see the results of not wearing a seat belt all the time. We see the loss of life and devastating injuries that could have been prevented with the simple click of a seat belt. That is why buckling up is more than just a good idea -- it's the law."
To kick off this year's Click It or Ticket seat belt mobilization effort, NHTSA asked all states to participate in the border-to-border initiative (B2B), a one-day national seat belt awareness event that took place on Nov. 16 and was coordinated by participating state highway safety offices and their respective law enforcement liaisons. B2B aimed to increase law enforcement participation by coordinating highly visible seat belt enforcement and providing seat belt fact sheets for drivers at heavily traveled, highly visible state border checkpoints.
According to NHTSA, in 2018, there were 9,778 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the United States. In that same year, 56 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed at night (6 p.m.-5:59 a.m.) were not wearing their seat belts. That is why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement.
Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuse approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night.
For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, visit the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration website at www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.