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May 22, 2006

Texas Law Enforcement Agencies Say “Click It or Ticket”

Hundreds of law enforcement agencies across Texas will be looking for drivers and passengers who aren’t properly secured during the national “Click It or Ticket” enforcement mobilization, which runs May 22 through June 4.

“We are so concerned about the everyday safety of Texans that we are joining hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers across the nation in the Click It or Ticket program,” said Col. Thomas A. Davis, Jr., director of the DPS.

Texas law requires every person sitting in the front seat of a vehicle to wear a safety belt. The law also states that all children under 17 must be secured with a safety belt, or in a child safety seat, whether they are sitting in the front or in the back seat. A child less than five years old and less than 36 inches tall must be secured in a child safety seat. Drivers can be stopped and ticketed for a safety belt violation if they, or any of their passengers under the age of 17, are not buckled up or properly restrained. Traffic fines for failing to use a seat belt or secure a child in a safety seat can run from $50 to $200, plus court costs.

Drivers of pickup trucks are included in the Click It or Ticket push, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is running special commercials to remind drivers that they are twice as vulnerable to roll-over crashes.

“Pickup drivers mistakenly believe they are safer in their trucks than in a car.  But pickups are twice as likely to roll over as passenger cars in fatal crashes and nearly half of the pickup deaths in the region involved a rollover,” said Georgia S. Chakiris, NHTSA South Central Region Administrator. “Wearing your safety belt reduces the risk of dying in a rollover crash by up to 80 percent.”

In Texas, safety belt use in 2005 was 89.9 percent overall and 85.5 percent for pickup trucks, according to observation surveys. But failure to regularly wear a safety belt can be deadly. According to NHTSA, 2,707 Texans in passenger vehicles died in traffic crashes during 2004, and 44 percent of those killed were NOT buckled up at the time of the crash.

“We’ve come a long way with seat belt usage, but we still have a long way to go. Show your family how important they are: buckle up every time you get in a vehicle, no matter its size,” Col. Davis said.

DPS has had a zero-tolerance policy regarding seat belts and child safety seats since 1999. Drivers who are pulled over for seat belt and child safety seat violations receive tickets for those violations.