New Safety Belt Enforcement Efforts Needed

WASHINGTON--June 2, 2011: With the latest Click It or Ticket (CIOT) mobilization underway, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers joins the National Safety Council in asking Congress to support the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's request for funding to conduct a second national safety belt enforcement mobilization in the upcoming fiscal year.

In letters to the leadership of both the Senate and House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittees, the two organizations noted that 2010's national safety belt use rate is now at 85 percent, a full 70 percentage points higher than it was in the early 1980s.  

"The result of this achievement is that many tens of thousands of lives have been saved, helping to lead to the lowest number of highway fatalities since 1949, as recently announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation," said the letter jointly signed by Alliance Vice President of Federal Affairs Shane Karr and National Safety Council President and CEO Janet Froetscher.  

"One of the major  reasons for advances in belt use has been the national Click It or Ticket high-visibility enforcement mobilizations which are conducted each May," the letter added. "NHTSA-sponsored national advertising is a key element of the Click It or Ticket program, helping to make it a well-recognized and strongly-supported traffic safety activity."

The Council and the Alliance also commended the subcommittees for their leadership in starting the national paid traffic safety enforcement advertising program nearly 10 years ago.

In the proposed fiscal year 2012 budget, NHTSA is seeking to expand Click It or Ticket by adding a second mobilization in November.

"The success of CIOT to date suggests that this additional ... mobilization will assist in  further increasing the national seat belt use rate," the letter stated. "The result will be further reductions in highway fatalities and injuries."   
 

For more information on Alliance safety initiatives go to Auto Alliance .

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is a trade association of 12 car and light truck manufacturers including BMW Group, Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.