NIGHT & DAY.. IT’S BUCKLE-UP GEORGIA!

A seat belt won’t save even one life if it’s not used.

What’s your greatest traffic phobia?  Whether your worst fear is aggressive driving..  or drinking and driving.. or even texting while driving … a seat belt can’t save a single life if it’s not used.  So it’s CLICK IT OR TICKET time again!  And if you’re one of Georgia’s death-defying motorists who won’t wear a safetybelt, traffic enforcement officers everywhere are launching a statewide strategy to save you from bad driving habits that could cost you your life! 


NIGHT OR DAY, IF YOU DON’T CLICK IT, EXPECT A TICKET
Remember to buckle-up when the sun goes down this Memorial Day.  All across Georgia, hundreds of police agencies are running roadchecks night and day to track down drivers and passengers who aren’t belted.  When safety experts studied nationwide fatality stats they discovered unbuckled crash deaths run considerably higher at night because many night-drivers have apparently fooled themselves into believing they’re ‘crash-proof’’. The alarming nationwide nighttime highway death toll in 2008 claimed the lives of 12,671 Americans. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of those who died were NOT wearing their seat belts at the time of the crashes.


           UNBUCKLED DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS AT RISK IN GEORGIA

So police are initiating a crash-course in road-reality this Memorial Day. They know 795 Georgians died here in 2008 because they didn’t click-it.  Sixty-seven percent of those unbuckled fatalities in Georgia happened at night. And five of the nine Georgians killed in nighttime crashes last Memorial Day holiday died unbuckled. That’s why we ticket.What are your odds? Seat belts actually saved 521 lives in Georgia traffic crashes last year. You do the survival math. 


IT’S ABOUT RAISING SURVIVAL RATES, NOT REVENUE!

Seatbelts saved 13,250 American lives in 2008 alone!  And yet, nearly one-in-five Americans still fail to wear their safetybelts whether driving or riding.  The result: In 2008 an additional 4,152 lives could have been saved nationwide if seatbelts were worn at the time of the crash. “The worry of getting a traffic ticket is sometimes the only motivation for some drivers to fasten their safetybelt,” says GOHS Director Dallas.


AMAZING SEATBELTS MAKE MANY CAR CRASHES SURVIVABLE
The good news: Belt use saves literally thousands of lives each year across America!  NHTSA research data shows that wearing your seat belt is the single most effective crash protection available. More than 70-percent of passenger vehicle occupants involved in serious crashes nationwide survive when wearing safetybelts correctly. Seatbelts have proven to reduce the risk of fatal injury to front seat passenger car occupants by 45-percent.  In pick-up trucks, SUVs’, and mini-vans, properly worn seatbelts reduce fatal injury by an amazing 60-percent!


BUCKLE –UP! EVERY TRIP, EVERY SEAT, EVERY TIME!
But too many Georgians still need a tough reminder.  State Law authorizes high visibility enforcement patrols to make traffic stops just for observing unbelted drivers and passengers. If law enforcement finds you on the road unbuckled anytime or anywhere, you can expect to get a ticket — not a warning. No excuses and no exceptions.  "Wearing your seatbelt costs you nothing, but the cost of riding without it can be catastrophic,” says GOHS Director Dallas.  "So, don't risk a ticket.. or worse, a life.  Remember to buckle-up, day and night.”


SUMMER H.E.A.T. BACK IN THE HOLIDAY FORECAST
Georgia’s 100 Days of Summer H.E.A.T. speed and DUI enforcement campaign begins May 17th.  H.E.A.T. stands for Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic.  It’s amulti-agency traffic safety enforcement campaign safeguarding motorists during the heavy summer travel period from Memorial Day through the Fourth of July and Labor Day holidays.  To help put the brakes on Georgia’s high-risk speeders this summer, H.E.A.T. Teams will be enforcing the state’s new Super Speeder Law that adds on additional $200.00 fines for illegal speeds 75mph-and-over on any two lane roads.. and 85mph-and-over anywhere in Georgia.  H.E.A.T.-Teams will also focus on late-night safetybelt violators.  The Georgia Click It Or Ticket enforcement campaign runs Monday, May 24th through Sunday, June 6th, 2010.


THE FACTS ABOUT CLICK IT OR TICKET

In 2008, 12,671 passenger vehicle occupants died in motor vehicle crashes nationwide between the nighttime hours of 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Nearly two-thirds (64%) of those who died were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crashes, compared to less than half (45%) of the passenger vehicle occupants killed during the daytime hours of 6 a.m. to 5:59 p.m.

 

WHO IS MOST AT RISK?

  • Teens: In 2008, 70 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants 13 to 15 years old killed in traffic crashes were not buckled up…the highest percentage of all age groups.
  • Young adults: Among passenger vehicle occupants 25 to 34 years old who were killed in crashes, 66 percent were not buckled up…the second highest percentage for any age group.
  • Men: Men are less likely than women to buckle up. This is especially true of young men. In 2008, 66 percent of male drivers and 74 percent of male passengers 18 to 34 killed in passenger vehicles were NOT wearing their seat belts.
  • Pickup drivers and passengers: Pickup truck drivers and passengers continue to have lower seat belt usage rates than occupants of other passenger vehicles. In 2008, 67 percent of pickup truck drivers and 70 percent of pickup truck passengers who were killed in traffic crashes were NOT buckled up.

LIFE-SAVING BENEFITS

  • When used by passenger vehicle occupants 5 and older, seatbelts saved an estimated 13,250 lives in 2008, more than 75,000 lives from 2004 through 2008, and 255,115 lives from 1975 through 2008.
  • When used correctly,  seatbelts reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent — and by 60 percent in pickup trucks, SUVs, and minivans.
  • In fatal crashes in 2008, 77 percent of passenger vehicle occupants who were thrown from their vehicles were killed. However, only 1 percent of crash victims who were buckled up were totally ejected from their vehicles, compared to 30 percent of those who were unbuckled.
  • Motorists can increase the odds of survival in a rollover crash in a light truck by nearly 80 percent by wearing their seat belts.

 

A PROVEN SUCCESS

  • National belt use now the highest ever: The observed national belt usage rate rose to an all-time high of 84 percent in 2009, a 1-point increase from 2008.
  • A ‘round-the-clock’ campaign: To convince more nighttime drivers to buckle up, the 2010 mobilization will include both day and night enforcement activities.
  • Local efforts, national reach — Hundreds of State and local law enforcement and highway safety officials across the nation will participate in Click It or Ticket 2010from May 24 to June 6. Together we can effectively enforce seat belt laws, convince more Georgians to buckle up — and ultimately save more lives.

Cairo, Georgia CIOT Kickoff