The Lake County Safe Communities Coalition (LCSCC)is reminding drivers about the lifesaving benefits of wearing a seat belt this spring, during the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) national Click It or Ticket (CIOT) high-visibility enforcement effort. The national seat belt campaign, which overlaps with the Memorial Day holiday, runs from May 22 to June 4, 2023. To promote the CIOT campaign, LCSCC will be at the Car Cruise at Veterans’ Park in Painesville this Friday, May 19 from 5:00pm-7:00pm. There will be a prize wheel table, raffle items, and guest speaker Sergeant Jerrold Infalvi of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The annual Observation Survey of Seat Belt Use conducted by the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Ohio State Highway Patrol reported Lake County had an overall seat belt compliance rate of 78% in 2022. This rate is below state and national average rate estimates of 80.8% and 91.6% respectively.
“We want the act of buckling up to become automatic to all drivers and passengers,” said Sgt. Infalvi. “It’s not just a safe thing to do – it’s the law. During the Click It or Ticket campaign, we’ll be working with our fellow law enforcement officers across local and state lines to ensure the message gets out to drivers and passengers. Buckling up is the simplest thing you can do to limit injury or save your life during a crash. We see the results of not wearing a seat belt all the time. We see the loss of life. So often, it could have been prevented. If you know a friend or a family member who does not buckle up when they drive, please ask them to consider changing their habits. Help us spread this lifesaving message before one more friend or family member is killed as a result of this senseless inaction. Seat belts save lives, and everyone — front seat and back, child and adult — needs to remember to buckle up.”
Source: OSTATS Dashboards 2023 https://statepatrol.ohio.gov/dashboards-statistics/ostats-dashboards/safety-belt-dashboard
For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.
