'Click It or Ticket' Nets 10,318 Occupant Protection Charges
in First Week; Statewide Campaign Follows Four-County Initiative That
Boosted Local Use Rates
RALEIGH, N.C., May 29 -- More than 10,000 drivers and passengers were cited for seat belt and child passenger safety violations during the first week of the spring "Click It or Ticket" campaign, which was launched May 17.
"We had hoped that more people would have gotten the message by now," said Don Nail, acting director of the Governor's Highway Safety Program. "It's regrettable that it takes a ticket for some people to buckle up and obey the law. Officers across the state have shown, however, that they are ready to do whatever it takes to get people to take this safety issue seriously."
The statewide buckle-up campaign follows a successful April initiative that focused on four counties with the lowest report seat belt use rates. Richmond County, which for several years has had the lowest seat belt use rate in the state, made the most significant gain. A pre-campaign survey demonstrated a use rate of just 69 percent, but after the campaign the use rate soared nearly 19 points to 87.6 percent.
Other counties that increased their seat belt use rate are Buncombe, which went from 75 percent to 82.6 percent; Caldwell, which went from 76 percent to 89.4 percent, and Mecklenburg, which went from 76.6 percent to 79.7 percent.
Citation data from the current campaign was reported by law enforcement agencies in each county and compiled by the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. During the first week, officers wrote 9,520 seat belt tickets and 798 child passenger safety violations. Counties with the highest number of seat belt citations include Wake with 1,044, Wayne with 540, and Surry with 452. Wake County also recorded the highest number of driving while impaired (DWI) violations, with 109 citations issued.
Besides cracking down on seat belt and child passenger safety violators, officers across the state last week charged 1,269 motorists with DWI. They discovered a total of 40,003 violations, including 624 drug charges, 18 stolen vehicles, and 10 fugitives from justice. The campaign continues through June 2.
Statewide Totals
DWI Occupant Restraint
Total Driving Seat Belt Child Passenger
Checkpoints While Violations Safety Violations
and Patrols Impaired
Violations
1,873 1,269 9,520 798
(May 17-26)
Statewide Totals
Traffic Violations
Speeding Total
Traffic
Violations
10,818 37,814
Statewide Totals
Criminal Violations
Drug Firearm Stolen Vehicles Fugitives Arrested*
Violations Violations Recovered*
624 46 18 10
Other Total Total Traffic &
Criminal Criminal Criminal Violations
Violations Violations
Not Listed
1,519 2,189 40,003
*These columns are not counted into overall total of violations