DC Area Police Lay Down Region-Wide Safety Belt Dragnet

Night Time Is the Right Time: 81% of Night Time Fatalities Are Unbelted

WASHINGTON, May 26 -- Joining forces with the nationwide Click It or Ticket mobilization, running from May 23 to June 5, the Metropolitan Police Department, District of Columbia, in partnership with the District Department of Transportation, today conducted a news conference and nighttime safety belt sting in Adams Morgan. This checkpoint was one of more than 1,200 safety belt checkpoints and roving patrols taking place in the Mid- Atlantic region on May 25 and 26.

With 81 percent of nighttime highway fatalities being unbelted drivers and passengers, the goal is to reduce deaths and injuries on area roads and highways by increasing safety belt use with a special emphasis on nighttime use.

The District of Columbia checkpoint was held in Adams Morgan, a location chosen for its diverse and youthful population as well as its nightlife scene -- all characteristics that are known to lead to risky behaviors, such as driving under the influence. The chronic non belt-use population is often comprised of the riskiest drivers -- those most likely to speed and drive drunk.

"Too many officers have had to make that unwelcome knock of the front door, telling a mother, father or spouse that their loved one had died or been severely injured when the simple act of buckling up may have prevented the tragedy," said Dan Tangherlini, Director of the District of Columbia Department of Transportation. "That's why, we're showing zero tolerance for anyone not buckled up. Unless you want to risk a ticket -- or worse, your life -- always wear your belt -- every trip, every time."

The District has one of the strictest safety belt laws in the nation, requiring that the driver and all occupants, whether they are in the front or back seats, be belted. The penalty for violating the District's safety belt law is a $50 fine and two points on the driver's driving record. Thanks to strict laws, enforcement of the laws and campaigns like Click It or Ticket, District safety belt use has increased from 58% to 85% over the past eight years, giving the District the 10th highest level of safety belt use in the United States.

Safety belt use saves lives and prevents injuries. Between 1975 and 2000, safety belts prevented 135,000 fatalities and 3.8 million injuries nationwide, saving $585 billion in medical and other costs. If all vehicle occupants had used safety belts during that period, nearly 315,000 deaths and 5.2 million injuries could have been prevented -- and $913 billion in costs saved.

About Click It or Ticket -- The combination of active law enforcement, coupled with paid advertising and the support of government agencies, local schools, community organizations and others, continues to be an extremely effective means for increasing safety belt use -- and saving lives -- across the country. More than 12,000 law enforcement agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico will conduct safety belt checkpoints and other special law enforcement activities as part of the effort.