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Do you recognize this image? It’s the new logo for the most successful seat belt enforcement campaign ever. The Click It or Ticket campaign has helped create the highest national seat belt usage rate of almost 82 percent. As indicated by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) seatbelt charts for 2006, jurisdictions with stronger belt enforcement laws continue to have higher rates than those with weaker laws.
According to the NHTSA, the current promotion is aimed at raising awareness of the extra dangers of nighttime driving. Seat belt usage declines substantially at night, increasing the risk of being killed in a crash by three times the daytime rate.
“It’s alarming that fewer people are buckling up at night, a time when the odds of being killed in a motor vehicle crash triple. This year, law enforcement officials will be ticketing violators who are not wearing their seat belts, especially during the evening hours,” Administrator Nason said.
The NHTSA study found that in 2005, more than 15,000 passenger vehicle occupants died in traffic crashes between the nighttime hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., and nearly two-thirds of those killed were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash. Additional NHTSA survey data indicate that nighttime seat belt use is often 10 percent lower than the nation-wide average 82 percent daytime belt use.
“The annual Click It or Ticket campaign has helped increase seat belt use for over a decade, but despite these gains, too many of our family and friends continue to die on our roadways,” said Nason. “Not wearing your seat belt, day or night, is a huge and unnecessary gamble.”
For information about your legal rights, please click here or call the law firm of Regan Zambri & Long PLLC at (202) 463-3030.
