2012 Click It Or Ticket Enforcement Results

Dover – Over the past two weeks, officers from approximately 17 State, County, and municipal law enforcement agencies issued a total of 1,041 citations to unbuckled motorists during the 11th annual Click It or Ticket campaign. The enforcement portion of the campaign ran from May 14th through 28th and involved traffic safety checkpoints and saturation patrols both day and night.

For the fifth year in a row officers participating in Click It or Ticket issued fewer seat belt citations than the year before. In 2008, officers issued 2,347 citations – that is 335 more issued than in 2009, 708 more issued than in 2010, and 1,152 more issued than in 2011, and 1,306 more than this year. Office of Highway Safety (OHS) officials believe that this tread means more motorists are buckling up but OHS knows that there is still more work to be done to ensure everyone is buckling up every trip, every time.

On Sunday June 10th there was a crash in Dover that left two people seriously injured. They were not buckled up. The incident involved two vehicles. One vehicle, which overturned, had 12 vehicle occupants and only the driver was wearing a seat belt. A four year old female passenger, who was not properly restrained, was ejected from the vehicle. She was flown from the scene by Delaware State Police helicopter and transported to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where she was admitted in critical condition. Another passenger, one year old male, who was also not properly restrained, was flown from the scene by Delaware State Police helicopter. He was transported to the A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children where he was admitted in serious condition. This crash is a good example of how proper use of seat belts may have prevented these serious injuries.

Delaware’s current statewide seat belt usage rate is 90%. OHS officials have begun their evaluation to determine if there has been any increase in the state’s belt usage rate in the last year by conducting a series of observational seat belt surveys at locations throughout Delaware. OHS officials will be surveying motorists on roads throughout the state and recording whether drivers and passengers are wearing seat belts. Motorists on all types of roadways from interstates to two-lane roads will be observed. Survey results should be available by early July.

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