Remarks for Dan DeVane, Chief Deputy Secretary
"Click It or Ticket" Kickoff Ceremony
Jim Graham Building, NC State Fairgrounds
May 23, 2006 at 10 a.m.
Introduction
Thank you, Darrell. Good morning and welcome to the kickoff of North Carolina's 13th annual "Click It or Ticket" Campaign.
As Darrell mentioned, the location for today's kickoff event is most appropriate as we celebrate and promote the health and well being of our state employees at the 2006 State Agency Wellness Fair.
NCDOT & Highway Safety
At the North Carolina Department of Transportation, we strive for safety in everything we do.
Whether our engineers are planning the construction of a new bridge or roadway workers are building a new highway bypass, safety is our constant focus.
Since 2001, NCDOT has made great strides in improving roadway safety. We installed more than 1,000 miles of median barriers across the state, saving an estimated 96 lives. We improved safety at railroad crossings by adding signals and gates at 352 locations and increased the use of rumble strips throughout the state to prevent run-off-the road crashes.
Although it is impossible to prevent all traffic crashes, North Carolina must continue to seek practical solutions to help reduce the number and severity of traffic crashes and injuries on our state's highways.
In 2003, the North Carolina Executive Committee for Highway Safety was formed to address highway safety issues. The committee's mission is to establish highway safety goals and objectives to prioritize, implement and evaluate policies and programs to reduce fatalities, injuries and economic losses related to crashes.
Secretary Lyndo Tippett has identified improving highway safety through innovative programs and the work of this committee as one of the department's top commitments.
"Click It or Ticket"
The Governor's Highway Safety Program is an integral part of NCDOT's efforts to reduce highway fatalities and educate our citizens on the importance of driving safe. A key component of this effort is the "Click It or Ticket" initiative.
Since 1993, "Click It or Ticket" has been the driving force behind keeping North Carolina a safer place to travel. A year before this program was launched, North Carolina's safety belt usage rate was 58.1 percent.
Things have really changed. In 2005, North Carolina's usage rate was the highest in the Southeast region at 86.7 percent, and our highest usage rate to date.
The success of the North Carolina "Click It or Ticket" campaign is recognized nationally and serves as a model for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. States throughout the country conduct "Click It or Ticket" campaigns, increasing awareness of safety belt use.
The success of "Click It or Ticket" over the past 13 years would not have been possible without the continued dedication of our state and local law enforcement officers. The countless hours they spend each year in an effort to keep us safe do not go unrecognized.
Thank you each for your continued dedication to highway safety.
While we have been successful in increasing our safety belt usage rate, there are still North Carolinians out there that choose not to buckle up. Unbelted drivers and passengers involved in car crashes accounted for 46 percent of the fatalities on North Carolina roads in 2005.
This simply means that there is still work to be done. We've come a long way, but it is so important that we continue to work together to promote safety belt use in our state.
Regular safety belt use is the single most effective way to protect people and reduce death in motor vehicle crashes. When worn correctly, safety belts have proven to reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent.
In fact, studies show that if North Carolina increased it's safety belt usage rate to 90 percent, 37 fatalities would be prevented and 600 serious injuries would be prevented each year. This would also translate into an added benefit of $113 million in economic cost savings.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that the "Click It or Ticket" initiative saves lives. It's that plain and simple.
Over the next two weeks law enforcement officers across the state will be out in full force putting in long hours to make the citizens of this state aware that we take our safety belt laws seriously. Thank you in advance for the hard work ahead of you.
On behalf of Governor Easley, Secretary of Transportation Lyndo Tippett and law enforcement officers, I encourage all motorists and passengers to buckle up. Remember its "Click It or Ticket."