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Border to Border Seat Belt Initiative Kicks Off
May 24th 2018 by Dee Loflin
Border to border seat belt initiative kicks off
2018 Click it or Ticket
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration kicked off the 2018 Click It or Ticket seat belt initiative on Monday. Border to Border, a one-day national seat belt awareness event was coordinated by participating state highway safety offices and their respective law enforcement liaisons. B2B aims to increase law enforcement participation by coordinating highly visible seat belt enforcement and providing seat belt fact sheets for drivers at heavily traveled locations at state lines. The B2B event begins Click It or Ticket week, which runs through June 3 and covers the busy Memorial Day holiday weekend.
"Past Border to Border initiatives have proved helpful toward our overall goal of spreading the message about the importance of buckling up," said Colonel Sandra K. Karsten, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The focus of B2B is on the nighttime hours when seat belt use is at its lowest. "We are working across the state to do all we can to keep our drivers and passengers safe. Wearing a seat belt is the number one thing anyone can do to help prevent death or injury during a vehicle crash," she said.
The B2B program is also a successful study in collaboration between local law enforcement offices: During the 2017 B2B program, participating nationwide law enforcement offices issued citations for 5,695 seat belt and child car seat violations, as well as 14,619 citations for other traffic infractions. This, in turn, reminded drivers to drive safer.
According to NHTSA, nearly half (48 percent) of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2016 were unrestrained. From 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., that number soared to 56 percent of those killed. That's why one focus of this year's B2B and Click It or Ticket campaigns is nighttime enforcement. During the week of Click It or Ticket, participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night. In Missouri the maximum penalty for a seat belt violation is $10.
"If one of your friends or a family member does not buckle up when they drive, please ask them to change their habit," said Colonel Karsten. "Help us spread this life-saving message before one more friend or family member dies needlessly. Seat belts save lives, and everyone - front seat and back, child and adult - needs to remember to buckle up - every trip, every time."
Last Updated on May 24th 2018 by Dee Loflin
https://showmetimes.com/Blogpost/vag9/Border-to-Border-Seat-Belt-Initiative-Kicks-Off
