Click It or Ticket Campaign To Run May 24-June 6
FAIRFIELD — Chief Robert Kalamaras is pleased to announce that the Fairfield Police Department is teaming up with law enforcement agencies nationwide to kick off the 2021 Click It or Ticket campaign with a Border to Border (B2B) event.
During the national Click It or Ticket seat belt campaign, which will take place May 24 through June 6, Fairfield Police will be stepping up their enforcement efforts for motorists who aren’t wearing their seat belts.
To kick off the campaign, Fairfield Police will participate in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) B2B event, a one-day, four-hour national seat belt awareness event on Monday, May 24. The B2B initiative aims to increase law enforcement participation by coordinating highly visible seat belt enforcement for drivers at state border checkpoints.
According to NHTSA, in 2019, there were 9,466 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the United States. In that same year, 55% of passenger vehicle occupants killed at night (6 p.m.–5:59 a.m.) were not wearing their seat belts. As such, one of the Click It or Ticket campaign and the B2B kickoff event focuses will be nighttime enforcement.
Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt enforcement, writing citations both day and night. In Connecticut, the maximum penalty for a seat belt violation is $92.
“Seat belts can make the difference between life or death when it comes to a crash,” Chief Kalamaras said. “Therefore, it’s imperative that all operators and their passengers use this life-saving safety equipment while driving or riding in a motor vehicle. To ensure compliance, we will be conducting heightened seatbelt enforcement in the coming weeks.”
The Fairfield Police Department also wishes to share some facts and common misconceptions about seat belt safety courtesy the NHTSA:
- Among young adults 18 to 34 killed while riding in passenger vehicles in 2019, more than half (57%) were completely unrestrained — one of the highest percentages for all age groups.
- Men make up the majority of those killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes. In 2019, 65% of the 22,215 passenger vehicle occupants who were killed were men. 51% of men killed in crashes were unrestrained, compared to 40% of women killed in crashes.
- There seems to be a misconception among those who drive and ride in pickup trucks that their larger vehicles will protect them better than other vehicle types would in a crash. The numbers say otherwise: 58% of pickup truck occupants who were killed in 2019 were not buckled. That’s compared to 43% of passenger car occupants who were not wearing seat belts when they were killed. Regardless of vehicle type, seat belt use is the single most effective way to stay alive in a crash.
- Too many people wrongly believe they are safe in the back seat unrestrained. 45% of all front-seat passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2019 were unrestrained, but 58% of those killed in back seats were unrestrained.
- People who live in rural areas might believe their crash exposure is lower, but in 2019, there were 11,971 passenger vehicle fatalities in rural locations compared to 10,187 fatalities in urban locations. Out of those fatalities, 48% of those killed in the rural locations were not wearing their seat belts, compared to 45% in urban locations.
- High-visibility seat belt enforcement is important 24 hours a day, but nighttime is especially deadly for unbuckled occupants.
For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.
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