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Like
babies playing
hide-n-seek by simply
putting their hands over
their face, some drivers
seem to think if you
can't see them NOT
wearing a seat belt, they
will be safe.
They
may be safe from a ticket
but they will not be safe
from crashing, being
ejected, being injured,
being maimed and dying.
According to Virginia
statistics, all these
horrors are most likely
to happen to males, young
drivers, drivers and
passengers in pickups, at
night and on rural roads.
Click It
or Ticket
 People
are dying or being
injured as a result of
not buckling up. In 2007,
Virginia experienced the
highest number of
fatalities in a decade.
According to
preliminary numbers from
DMV: The Virginia Highway
Safety Office, in 2007,
there a total of 1,026
fatalities, of those, 749
fatalities occurred in
vehicles that were
equipped with safety
restraints. 452 or 60
percent of the 749
fatalities were not
wearing restraints.
According to the
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration
(NHTSA), of the passenger
vehicle occupants
involved in fatal crashes
in Virginia, the 55
percent that were
restrained survived.
When worn correctly,
seat 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.
Regular seat belt use
is the single most
effective way to protect
people and reduce
fatalities in motor
vehicle crashes. Yet
nearly one in four
Virginians still fail to
regularly wear their seat
belts when driving or
riding in a motor
vehicle.
Read more
about the Virginia Click
It or Ticket 2008
Young Males, Pickup
Truck Occupants, Rural
Drivers and Drivers at
Night are Those Least
Likely to Buckle Up and
Are at Greatest Risk
Men – especially
younger men – are
much less likely to
buckle up. In
Virginia in 2006, 78
percent of male
drivers and 77
percent of male
passengers between
the ages of 18 and
34 who were killed
in crashes for which
restraint use was
known, were NOT
wearing their seat
belts.
According to
NHTSA, pickup truck
drivers and
passengers,
particularly among
young males,
consistently have
the lowest seat belt
usage rates of all
motorists.
In 2006, the
National observed
seat belt use rate
in pickup trucks was
only 74 percent
compared to 82
percent in passenger
cars and 84 percent
in vans and SUVs.
This lack of
seat belt use is
deadly. In 2006, 70
percent of pickup
truck drivers and 76
percent of pickup
truck passengers who
were killed in
traffic crashes in
Virginia were not
buckled up.
One of the
deadliest outcomes
in any vehicle crash
occurs when
passengers get
ejected from the
vehicle – with most
ejections coming
from failure to wear
seat belts.
In fact, 75
percent of passenger
vehicle occupants
who were totally
ejected from their
vehicle in 2007 were
killed in Virginia.
But only 5 out of
100 drivers or
passengers involved
in fatal crashes
were wearing their
seat belts were
totally ejected in
Virginia.
In Virginia, 22
percent of the
occupants of light
trucks involved in
fatal crashes are
ejected compared to
15 percent of
passenger car
occupants. Pickup
trucks rollover
twice as often as
passenger cars.
Motorists can
increase the odds of
survival in a
rollover crash in a
light truck by
nearly 80 percent by
wearing their seat
belt.
Americans
driving or riding on
rural roadways face
a much greater risk
of being injured or
killed in traffic
crashes than do
those in urban
areas, according to
NHTSA.
Nationally, in
2006, only 78
percent of rural
drivers and their
passengers were
observed wearing
their seat belts
compared to 79
percent for urban
motorists and 84
percent among
suburban motorists.
While only about
27 percent of
Virginians live in
rural areas (based
on 2000 Census
data), rural traffic
fatalities accounted
for 59 percent of
Virginia’s total in
2006.
Even more
alarming, the motor
vehicle crash
fatality rate per
100M vehicle miles
traveled in
Virginia’s rural
areas is about
double the fatality
rate in Virginia’s
urban areas.
Part of the
danger to rural
drivers comes from
delayed recovery and
emergency response
along isolated
roadways. But much
of the danger is
also due to
excessive speed,
increased alcohol
use, vehicle
rollovers and higher
occupant ejection
rates due to low
seat belt use in
rural areas.
 No
More Excuses – “Click It
or Ticket”
From May 18 -
June 1, Virginia
will again be
conducting a
special, aggressive
“Click It or Ticket”
mobilization to
boost the state’s
seat belt use and to
reduce highway
fatalities.
The goal is
simple: to save more
lives by convincing
drivers and
passengers to always
buckle up – so no
more warnings and no
more excuses for
those not buckled
up.
Unless you want
to risk a ticket, or
worse - your life,
you need to always
remember to “Click
It or Ticket” day
and night.
For more information,
visit
Department
of Motor Vehicles
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