Click it or Ticket May 2022

Make Sure You Click It or Ticket

We’ve heard it before: Seat belts save lives. But let’s give that statement some weight: Between 2015 and 2019, seat belts saved more than 69,000 lives nationwide. That means 69,000 seat belts prevented families from grieving the loss of their loved ones for decades to come.

Unfortunately, we still have nearly 10% of drivers and passengers who do not wear seat belts. Even more horrifying are the children and infants who may be included in this number. They are the youngest victims, and they are almost always reliant upon adults to correctly buckle them in to their car seats or boosters.

In Wood County in 2021, 16% of drivers involved in crashes were not buckled.  27% of drivers involved in injury crashes were not buckled, as well as 28% of mature drivers and 40% of youthful drivers.  10% of those unbuckled were also speeding.

Buckling your seat belt should be automatic. It should be the first thing done when you get in the car. It is our greatest wish to spread the message about the importance of seat belt use, and remind people that seat belt use isn’t just a suggestion, it’s the law.

In addition to increased patrols and zero-tolerance enforcement, we want to get you the facts about the dangers of unbuckled driving:

• YOUTH: Young adults in particular seem to think they are invincible in vehicles. Unfortunately, they are dying at a disproportionate rate because they are not wearing their seat belts.
• MALES: Almost twice as many men are dying in vehicle crashes compared to women, and they are wearing their seat belts less often.
• PICKUP TRUCK DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS: Many pickup truck occupants think that they don’t need to wear their seat belts because they believe their large vehicles will protect them in a crash. However, the numbers from NHTSA tell the truth: 62% of pickup truck occupants who were killed in crashes were not buckled up. That’s compared to 47% of passenger car occupants who were unbuckled when they were killed in crashes.
  

Buckle up Wood County!!!  Every trip, Every Time.

You can find out more about the Click It or Ticket mobilization at www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.

For More Information:

• Lt. Jordan Schwochow, Ohio State Highway Patrol: 419-352-2481
• Sandy Wiechman, Safe Communities Coordinator: 419-372-9353 or swiechm@bgsu.edu