Click It or Ticket to Boost Seat Belt Use – Day and Night
Cushing – Motorists who refuse to wear their seat belts – beware. The 2012 national Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement mobilization kicks off May 21 to help save lives by cracking down on those who don’t buckle up.
The Cushing Police Department is joining with other state and local law enforcement officers and highway safety advocates across the country to help save more lives by strongly enforcing seat belt laws around the clock.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2010 nationally, 61 percent of the 10,647 passenger vehicle occupants who were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes overnight (6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m.) were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the fatal crash, compared to 42 percent during the daytime hours.
“Too many drivers and passengers on the road at night are not wearing their seat belts, and it all too often ends in tragedy,” said Deputy Chief Tully Folden. “Our goal is to save more lives, so the Cushing Police Department will be out enforcing seat belt laws around the clock.”
Seat belt use saves thousands of lives across America each year and the Cushing Police Department is helping spread the word. NHTSA statistics show that in 2010 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 12,546 lives nationwide.
Yet, too many motorists may need a tough reminder. In 2010, 22,187 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in motor vehicle crashes, according to NHTSA, and 51 percent of them were NOT wearing seat belts at the time of their fatal crashes.
