To kick off the 2018 Click It or Ticket seat belt initiative, the North Dakota Highway Patrol (NDHP) will be participating in Operation Border to Border (B2B), a 1-day national seat belt awareness kickoff event spearheaded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The B2B program aims to increase law enforcement participation by coordinating highly visible seat belt enforcement. The B2B event will be Monday, May 21 from 4 pm through 8 pm CST. The B2B operation begins the Click It or Ticket initiative that runs through June 3 and includes the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
“Border to Border initiatives allow many law enforcement agencies to focus resources on seat belt enforcement and child restraint laws with the ultimate goal to reduce serious injury and fatal crashes.” said NDHP Safety and Education Officer Lt. Michael Roark. “We are working across state lines with Montana, South Dakota and Minnesota to do all we can to keep drivers and passengers safe. Wearing a seat belt is the number one thing everyone can do to help prevent death or injury during a vehicle crash,” he said.
Roark stated, “This doesn’t mean writing more tickets—it means saving more lives. Through our enforcement efforts, we believe we keep community members safe while reminding drivers of the importance of buckling up.”
The national seat belt use rate is currently at 90.1 percent, according to NHTSA’s 2016 data, up from 88.5 percent in 2015. The Click It or Ticket campaign focuses on the remaining 9.9 percent—some 32 million people who still don’t buckle up. More resources on the B2B Initiative and the Click It or Ticket mobilization are available from NHTSA’s website at www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.