Chicago to Host Launch of National 'Click It or Ticket' Seat Belt Crackdown

Despite the highest seat belt rate ever recorded in the U.S., 48 million Americans still fail to buckle up according to a new report that will be released at the launch of the National "Click It or Ticket" Mobilization on May 15, 2006th in Chicago, Illinois. The report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will provide a state-by-state breakdown identifying those drivers and occupants who still fail to obey the law.

Chicago was chosen to host the national launch because of its successful efforts to increase belt use and reduce traffic fatalities. Following the 2003 enactment of a primary seat belt law, paid advertising and vigilant enforcement, Illinois' traffic deaths fell to 60 year lows in 2004 and 2005. A total of 1,355 people died in traffic crashes last year in Illinois, a 7 percent drop from 1,454 traffic deaths in 2003.

  What:   * National news conference to launch the National "Click It or
            Ticket" Mobilization
          * Release of a new national and state-by-state report detailing
            the last of the unbuckled
          * Launch of $31 million "Click It or Ticket" national ad campaign
            (Tapes of Ads and B-roll available)
          * Visuals: Media will be invited to observe a seat belt inhibitor,
            rollover simulator, and an enforcement zone set-up by the
            Chicago Police on a nearby street
          * Lunch will be provided immediately following the news conference

  Who:    Jacqueline Glassman, Acting Administrator, National Highway
           Traffic Safety Administration
          Phil Haseltine, Executive Director, Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety
           Campaign
          Colonel Jim Champagne, Chair, Governors Highway Safety Association
          Larry Trent, Director, Illinois State Police (Invited)
          Philip J. Cline, Superintendent, Chicago Police Department
           (Invited)

  Where:  Chicago Police Traffic Command - Parking Lot
          1718 South State Street
          Chicago, IL

  When:   10:00 a.m., Monday, May 15th, 2006  (Catered Lunch To Follow)

PRNewswire -- May 9