'Click It or Ticket' Mobilization Kicks Off With Special Emphasis on Protecting Pickup Truck Occupants

New Data Show Pickup Truck Occupants Least Likely to Buckle Up; More Than $26 Million in Ads Will Help Carry the Message

DETROIT, May 16 -- As hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers in all 50 states take to the roads for the 2005 Click It or Ticket safety belt enforcement mobilization, new data released today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that 70 percent of occupants killed in pickup truck crashes in 2003 were not wearing safety belts compared to 50 percent for cars. Belt use by pickup truck occupants was also found to be significantly lower than in cars.

The two-week enforcement wave, which runs from May 23rd through June 5th, is supported by more than $26 million in national and state ads, which target pickup truck occupants as well as those in other passenger vehicles. The ads, produced by NHTSA in English and Spanish, feature vehicles driven in several regions of the country, with unbelted vehicle occupants receiving tickets, and then buckling up.

NHTSA also released new national data showing that while more than 80 percent of occupants in cars buckled up, only 70 percent of pickup truck occupants wear safety belts. Safety belts are proven to reduce the risk of serious injury or death in a crash by 45 percent in a car, but for pickup trucks and SUVs the risk reduction is as much as 60 percent.

"While overall safety belt use is at an all-time high of 80 percent, 6,000 more lives could be saved each year if everyone buckled up. Click It or Ticket is the centerpiece of this vitally important national campaign," said Jeffrey W. Runge, MD, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Intense waves of enforcement supported by advertising have been credited with helping to increase national safety belt use from 61 percent in 1996 to 80 percent last year. The national advertising campaign was launched in Michigan where safety belt use has climbed to 90.5 percent due to a primary enforcement safety belt law and high visibility enforcement. In addition, traffic deaths in Michigan have decreased from 1,283 in 2003 to 1,159 in 2004.

"We in Congress support these seat belt mobilizations and our nation's law enforcement community because they are working to save lives," said Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), chairman of the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee that is responsible for NHTSA activities, including providing funding for support of the Mobilization. "I'm particularly proud of my home state of Michigan for surpassing 90 percent seat belt use."

The Mobilization, which combines strict enforcement of safety belt laws with targeted advertising, has consistently proven effective in increasing belt use, both nationally and at the state level. During the Mobilization, law enforcement officers will intensify enforcement of seat belt and child passenger safety laws by setting up checkpoints or saturation patrols across the country as their laws permit. Safety belt violators and drivers failing to restrain their child passengers will be ticketed.

"Click It or Ticket is designed to save lives," said Phil Haseltine, Executive Director of the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign of the National Safety Council. "These new NHTSA data help us understand which motorists are least inclined to take the simple but vitally important step of buckling up and they are people riding in pickup trucks."

The ads will be seen on networks such as ESPN, ABC, NBC, Univision, Telemundo, and cable programming such as Real TV and The Daily Show, as well as other programming most likely viewed by those who are not regular safety belt users.

"Michigan has experienced the benefits of increased safety belt usage," stated Colonel Tadarial J. Sturdivant, Director of the Michigan State Police. "In addition to saving your life in a traffic crash, wearing your safety belt can also save you the expense of a ticket."

The data on occupant fatalities are drawn from the National Center for Statistics and Analysis Fatal Analysis Reporting System. The data on safety belt use rates are drawn from the 2004 National Occupant Protection Use Survey.

Click It or Ticket is conducted by NHTSA with support from the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign of the National Safety Council, and in conjunction with law enforcement agencies, state highway safety offices, and the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign, a program of the National Safety Council, is a public/private partnership of automotive manufacturers, insurance companies, child safety seat manufacturers, government agencies, health professionals and child health and safety organizations. The goal of the Campaign is to increase the proper use of safety belts and child safety seats and to inform the public about how to maximize the lifesaving capabilities of air bags while minimizing the risks.