To kick off the 2018 Click It or Ticket seat belt initiative with the highest level of support, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is spearheading an awareness event.
According to a press release from the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety, Border to Border (B2B) is a one-day national seat belt awareness kickoff event 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 will be held Monday, May 21, beginning the 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 B2B kickoff will include a four-hour enforcement crackdown from 4 to 8 p.m. on May 21.
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.
According to NHTSA, nearly half (48%) 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.
“In 2016, 947 people died in Missouri traffic crashes, and 62 percent of the drivers and passengers killed were not wearing their seat belt. Many of those community members would have survived if they’d made the choice to buckle up,” said Colonel Karsten. “If one of your friends or a family member does not buckle up when they drive, please ask them to change their habit. 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.”
For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.saveMOlives.com or nhtsa.gov/ciot.