Click It or Ticket—Better belt up

Those who choose not to use their vehicle’s seat belts better beware as the annual Click It or Ticket campaign begins on Monday, May 19th. This program, conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and local law enforcement officers, serves as a nationwide wake-up call to increase awareness on the use and benefits of seat belts, and thereby reduce highway fatalities. Police officers will be out in force at seat belt checkpoints and other stepped-up law enforcement activities to stop and ticket unbelted motorists.

While seat belts are unquestionably the most effective automotive safety feature, amazingly one in five people still fail to wear them, according to NHTSA. In 2006, over 15,000 lives were saved by the use of seat belts. The organization estimates that more than 5,400 lives could have been saved if seat belts were used at the time of a crash.

Research by NHTSA shows that drivers and passengers go unbelted more at night than during the day, which is when a fatal crash risk is greatest.

However, the good news is that the national seat belt rate use has increased to 82 percent, marking a 14 percent increase since 1996. But there is still more work to be done.

So, unless you want to pay a ticket and risk your life in a crash—buckle up—day and night.

—Liza Barth

For more information on additional vehicle safety gear, see our guide to safety features.

Comments

[flossie]

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW THEY CAN DO THIS WHEN EVERY DAY MILLIONS OF OUR CHILDREN ARE PUT ON BUSES TO TRAVEL THE SAME ROAD AND TRAGIC HIGHWAYS AND THEY DO NOT HAVE THE SAFETY OF A SEAT BELT.WHY NOT TICKET THE SCHOOLS OR OUR GOVERNMENT FOR NOT DOING SEAT BELTS FROM THE START

[David]

Flossie.. on your comment about safety belts on school buses. Various studies including government ones have shown that school buses have the lowest fatality rates per person per mile despite lacking seat belts. The school bus fatality rate is far lower than any other mode of vehicle class. Here is one of link.

http://www.schoolbusinfo.org/intro.htm

[Rachel]

The arguments against seatbelts on school buses, attributed to self-serving economically motivated groups, have been overwhelmingly discredited in the past several years.

Seatbelts on School Buses have been endorsed by National PTA, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the American College of Preventative Medicine, Physicians for Automotive Safety, and the FireMarshalls Association.

The data from New Jersey where seat belts are mandated shows lower morbidity and mortality rates in school bus crashes.

Seatbelts would cost about $1 000- on a typical 66 passenger bus costing over $65,000-. This works out to about $1.60 a child per year or less than a penny a day for this added protection.

Today all 50 states protect our young motor-vehicle passengers by mandating the use of safety seats or belts in passenger cars and trucks. Thus, the children are already trained to "buckle-up". This habit persists enforced by law, until the first day of school where a portion of the transport industry says it's okay to ride unsecured. This negative education carries over to our teenage drivers who are killed in drastic numbers because they haven't learned the importance of wearing a seatbelt.

To view all studies done, including the ones that claim they support not putting belts in buses (which they actually don't do a good job of supporting), see the web site for the national coalition of school bus safety. I found it to present all facts on this topic extremely well.