Hoffman Estates Police Department Launches “Click It or Ticket” Mobilization to Boost Safety Belt Use and to Save Lives.

Regional, State and Local Law Enforcement Blitz

Zeroing in on Drivers Who do not Buckle Up at Night.

The Illinois Department of Transportation – Division of Traffic Safety (IDOT/DTS) is on a mission to increase the state’s safety belt usage rate to 90 percent during this year’s Click It or Ticket mobilization. Although safety belt usage increased to a record 88 percent in Illinois in 2006, too many Illinois drivers still choose not to regularly wear their safety belts. Unfortunately, nearly 66 percent of motor vehicle occupants killed during the night are unbelted.

Among those least likely to buckle up: young males, pickup truck drivers and their passengers, people who live in rural areas, and night-time drivers.

In Illinois, the percentage of drivers and passengers observed not wearing their safety belts is 12 percent. Failure to regularly wear a safety belt can be deadly. According to IDOT/DTS, over 1200 people died in Illinois traffic crashes during 2006.

That’s why Hoffman Estates Police announced today they are joining with more than 12,000 national, state and local law enforcement and highway safety officials during late May for an aggressive “Click It or Ticket” mobilization to crack down on Illinois’safety belt law violators and to reduce highway fatalities.

“Safety belts clearly save lives. But unfortunately too many folks still need a tough reminder, so we are going to be out in force buckling down on those who are not buckled up,” said A/C Chief Casstevens . “Unless you want to risk a ticket, or worse - your life, you need to remember to ‘Click It or Ticket’ day and night.”

Regular safety belt use is the single most effective way to protect people and reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes. When worn correctly, safety belts have proven to reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent – and by 60 percent in pickup trucks, SUVs and mini-vans.

Safety belt enforcement zones and other stepped-up law enforcement activities will be conducted during the national “Click It or Ticket” enforcement mobilization, which runs May 21 st through June 3 rd. Special nighttime safety belt enforcement zones will be set up throughout Illinois to crack down on unbelted drivers at night.

“Too many people still take the attitude that it will never happen to them. But fatal crashes can and do happen every day. So we will be out in force showing zero tolerance for anyone not buckled up,” A/C Casstevens said. “We’d much rather write a thousand tickets than have to knock on one family’s door with the news that their loved one didn’t survive a crash because they weren’t wearing their safety belt.”

For more information on the Illinois “Click It or Ticket” mobilization, please visit www.buckleupillinois.org.