2021 Click It or Ticket Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol…

2021 Click It or Ticket

Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol 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 high-visibility enforcement effort. The national seat belt campaign, which coincides with the Memorial Day holiday, runs from May 24 to June 6, 2021.

“We want the act of buckling up to become automatic to all drivers and passengers,” said Sheriff Maciol. “It’s not just a safe thing to do – it’s the law.” During the Click It or Ticket campaign, we will be working with our fellow law enforcement officers across the County 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.”

According to NHTSA, in 2019 55% of passenger vehicle occupants killed at night (6 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. The national seat belt use rate was 90.7%, which is good — but we can do better. The other 9.3% still need to be reminded that seat belts save lives. Among young adults 18 to 34 killed, while riding in passenger vehicles, more than half (57%) were completely unrestrained — one of the highest percentages for all age groups. Men make up the majority of those killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes, of the 22,215 passenger vehicle occupants who were killed were men.

“If the enforcement effort wakes people up to the dangers of unrestrained driving, we’ll consider our mission to be a success,” said Sheriff Maciol “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 because of this senseless inaction. Seat belts save lives, and everyone — front seat and back, child and adult — needs to remember to buckle up.”

For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.