Click It or Ticket Safety Belt Effort Kicks off in St. Louis

Safety Belt Campaign Expands Focus to Youth and Drivers of Pick up Trucks

 

ST. LOUIS, MO - At a news conference in St. Louis on Tuesday, May 24, law enforcement and traffic safety officials will outline local plans for Click It or Ticket - a program designed to remind travelers to drive safely and buckle up as the summer season begins.   For a two-week period of time (May 23 - June 5), law enforcement officers will intensify enforcement of safety belt and child passenger safety laws by setting up checkpoints or saturation patrols across the area and throughout the country.   Safety belt violators and drivers failing to restrain their child passengers will be ticketed. This year, the campaign will expand its focus to include drivers of pick up trucks and young drivers - ages 16-24 - two groups known to have particularly low belt use rate.

WHO:  Don Hillis, Director of Operations, Missouri Department of Transportation

Susan deCourcy, Regional Program Manager, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Central Region

Colonel Roger Stottlemyre, Missouri State Highway Patrol

Chief Joseph Mokwa, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department

Chief John Beardslee, Creve Coeur Police Department

WHAT: News conference to announce the launch of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Click It or Ticket mobilization focusing on drivers of passenger vehicles (including pick-up trucks) and young drivers - ages 16- 24 - both groups with low belt use rate.

WHEN:             11:00 a.m., Tuesday, May 24

 

WHERE:            St. Louis Police Department

                       Mounted Patrol Unit

                       5120 Clayton Road, St. Louis, MO

 

WHY: The goal of the effort is to boost Missouri's 76 percent safety belt use rate and reduce fatalities, with a special emphasis on young adults.   Missouri's ultimate goal is to reach 95 percent.   Currently, nationwide the usage rate is 80 percent.   Motor vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of death for every age, 3 through 33, in the United States. The past few years have shown a significant increase in safety belt use, but more must be done to sustain and grow these gains.   According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Missouri could save 159 lives, 1,840 serious injuries, 1,519 minor injuries, and $402.6 million in economic costs by increasing the current 76 percent safety belt usage rate to 95 percent.

For Information:

Jackie Rogers / Bill Whitfield

1-573-751-4161

1-800-800-2358