The James City County Police are joining with other state and local law enforcement officers and highway safety advocates across the country to help save more lives by strongly enforcing all traffic laws, especially seat belt laws around the clock.
The 2013 National Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement mobilization kicks off May 20 to help save lives by cracking down on those who don’t buckle up.
According to preliminary 2012 DMV Highway Safety Office statistics, there were a total of 774 fatalities in Virginia attributed to traffic crashes. Of those, 305 were unrestrained at the time of the crash.
Of the total unrestrained fatalities, 25 percent occurred between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m.
The highest time period for unrestrained deaths (84 killed) was from crashes occurring between 6 p.m. and midnight.
Regular seat belt use saves thousands of lives across Virginia each year. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) statistics show that in 2011 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 272 lives in Virginia.
“Seat belt use is just too important to ignore”, said Master Police Officer Leslie Sten. “We want to stress that regularly buckling up works, and we know of too many cases, largely at night, that all too often ends in tragedy. Our goal is to save more lives, so James City County will be out enforcing ALL traffic laws including seat belt use.”
The enforcement mobilization runs May 20-June 2.
