FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 16, 2020
As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches and more drivers hit the roads, the Charlottesville Police Department is reminding all drivers of the importance of seat belt use.
The annual Click It or Ticket campaign is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s national Click It or Ticket high-visibility enforcement effort that runs from November 16-29, 2020. Aimed at enforcing seat belt use to help keep people safe, the national seat belt campaign runs concurrent with this busy travel season.
So far in 2020, the Charlottesville Police Department has investigated five fatal accidents resulting in the deaths of six individuals. While there were other contributing factors in each of these accidents, the lack of a seatbelt has directly resulted in the loss of life in our community.
“By far, buckling up is the simplest thing you can do to limit injury or save your life during a crash, and we see the results of not wearing a seat belt all the time,” said Sgt. Josh Manzano, of the CPD Traffic Unit. “We see the loss of life and devastating injuries that could’ve been prevented with the simple click of a seat belt; that’s why buckling up is more than just a good idea—it’s the law.”
To kick off this year’s Click It or Ticket seat belt mobilization effort, NHTSA is asking all states to participate in the Border to Border (B2B) initiative, a 1-day national seat belt awareness event on November 16 that is coordinated by participating state highway safety offices and their respective law enforcement liaisons. B2B aims to increase law enforcement participation by coordinating highly visible seat belt enforcement and providing seat belt fact sheets for drivers at heavily traveled, highly visible state border checkpoints.
According to NHTSA, in 2018, there were 9,778 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the United States. In that same year, 56 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed at night (6 p.m.–5:59 a.m.) were not wearing their seat belts.
For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.
Media Contact
Tyler Hawn
Public Information Officer
Charlottesville Police Department
434-409-3439
hawnto@charlottesville.gov