Click It or Ticket to 6.6.2010
COLUMBUS PUBLIC HEALTH - Press Release
Friday, May 28, 2010
Contact: Vedette Gavin (614) 645-6836 [email protected]
Local Organizations Partner to Encourage Residents to Buckle Up
Click it or Ticket: May 24 – June 6, 2010
For you and your family, seat belts provide the best defense against impaired, distracted and aggressive drivers. In fact, wearing your seat belt is the single most effective crash protection available. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2008 the use of seat belts in passenger vehicles saved an estimated 13,250 lives. An additional 4,152 lives would have been saved if all unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants 5 and older involved in fatal crashes had worn their seat belts.
Regular seat belt use is the single most effective way to protect people and reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes. Seat belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent, and by 60 percent in pickup trucks, SUVs, and minivans.
“However, a seat belt can’t save even one life if it’s not used. And that’s where enforcement comes into play” said Officer Lanning of the Columbus Division of Police. High-visibility enforcement campaigns such as the annual Click It or Ticket mobilization are widely credited with increasing the national seat belt usage rate from 58 percent in 1994 to an observed rate of 84 percent today. The seat belt usage rate also increased here in Franklin County, rising from 63% in 2004 to 83.6% in 2009.
In spite of the notable progress across the county, there is still work to be done. “There are areas in our community where the seat belt use rate is as much as 28% below the county average. There are thousands more lives that can be saved.” said Vedette Gavin, Coordinator of Columbus Public Health’s Franklin County Safe Communities Program. One such area is the southwest region of Franklin County where the two lowest safety belt use rates in the county were observed – 55% at Demorest Rd. & Clime Rd. and 63% at Southwest Blvd. and Demorest Rd. When Regal Cinemas, Dairy Queen and Covenant Church of the Georgesville Square Shopping Plaza learned of the low seatbelt use rate on their side of town, they joined forces with Safe Communities and local law enforcement in the “Click It or Ticket” campaign to encourage members of the community to buckle up.
Together, Franklin County Safe Communities, Regal Cinemas, Dairy Queen, Covenant Church and the Ohio Hispanic Coalition will hold a “Black Belt Buckle Up Block Party” on Saturday, May 29th from 12 noon until 8 p.m. in Regal Cinemas Parking lot in support of the 2010 Click It or Ticket mobilization. Partners put together the event to provide a safe, family friendly event as a way to give back to the community and promote the importance of buckling up The block party will feature games, prizes, live music, a karate expo, food, a seat belt check and fun for the whole family.
By any measure, the personal and societal costs of lives needlessly lost in traffic crashes on our community are far too great to bear. That’s why during the May 24–June 6, 2010, campaign, Central Ohio motorists can expect to receive tickets, not warnings, if officers find them out on the roads unbuckled. Moreover, motorists can also expect that local law enforcement will be out in force — both day and night.
There’s no question about it: Seat belts save lives. Spread the word to your family and friends to protect life and buckle up. You could save them the cost of a ticket. Even better: You could save their life. Remember: this May 24 to –June 6, 2010, it’s Click It or Ticket.
For more on the national seat belt mobilization, visit Click It or Ticket headquarters at www.nhtsa.gov.
For more information on Franklin County Safe Communities or the “Black Belt Buckle Up Block Party”, visit Safe Communities online at www.fcsafecommunities.com or call (614)645-6836
##