Click It or Ticket Campaign Reminds Drivers: Buckle Up Every Trip, Every Time

Dover, Del. (May 11, 2023) — The Delaware Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is reminding drivers why it’s important to buckle up during the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) national Click It or Ticket enforcement effort. OHS is partnering with local and state police to conduct high-visibility enforcement starting May 15, – June 9, to ensure drivers and passengers buckle up, every, trip, every time.

“Over the past year in Delaware, 39 percent of people that were killed in crashes were not wearing a seatbelt,” said Kimberly Chesser, Director, Delaware Office of Highway Safety. “We see the consequences of not wearing a seat belt all too often, resulting in loss of life when it could have easily been prevented. It’s imperative we get the message out about the importance of seat belt safety to prevent these tragedies from happening.”

In Delaware, the worst time for unrestrained crashes has historically been during the summer months. Between 2018 and 2022, 27 percent of unrestrained crashes occurred between June and August and 10 percent of those crashes happened in July alone. The rising trend continued in 2022, trending up 6 percent from the previous year. Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night.

According to NHTSA, in 2021, there were 11,813 unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the United States. In that same year, 57 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed at night (6:00 p.m. – 5:59 a.m.) were not wearing their seat belts. That’s why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement.

“You may think you’re safe in a certain vehicle, or on a certain road, but the truth is, you’re safest when you buckle up, no matter what,” said Sarah Cattie, Senior Traffic Safety Program Manager. “Unfortunately, many families are suffering because their loved ones refused to follow this simple step.”

In addition to increased patrols, we want to educate drivers and passengers on the dangers of unbuckled driving and the correct way to buckle up safely:

Consequences of not wearing a seat belt

• Buckling up helps keep you safe and secure inside your vehicle, whereas not buckling up can result in being totally ejected from the vehicle in a crash, which is almost always deadly.
• Airbags are not enough to protect you; in fact, the force of an airbag can seriously injure or even kill you if you’re not properly buckled up.
• Improperly wearing a seat belt, such as putting the strap below your arm, puts you and your children at risk in a crash.

Guidelines to buckle up safely

• The lap belt and shoulder belt are secured across the pelvis and rib cage, which are better able to withstand crash forces than other parts of your body.
• Place the shoulder belt across the middle of your chest and away from your neck.
• The lap belt rests across your hips, not your stomach.
• NEVER put the shoulder belt behind your back or under an arm.
• Children whose caregivers buckle up are much more likely to buckle up themselves.

For more information on the campaign, statistics, and education visit www.arrivealivede.com/buckle-up/

About the Delaware Office of Highway Safety
The Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is committed to improving the safety of  Delaware’s motoring public by focusing on behavioral traffic safety issues, such as impaired driving, seat belt use, speeding, child passenger safety, pedestrian and bicycle safety, motorcycle safety, and teen driving issues. FAQs can be found at ArriveAliveDE.com. Follow OHS on the Delaware Office of Highway Safety website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.