Remarks for Secretary Lyndo Tippett
"Click It or Ticket" Media Event
Airborne and Special Operations Museum, Fayetteville
May 29, 2007 at 11 a.m.
Introduction
Thank you, Darrell. Good morning and welcome to Cumberland county's "Buckle Up Challenge"
NCDOT & Highway Safety
At the North Carolina Department of Transportation, safety is our number one priority.
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.
"Click It or Ticket"
The Governor's Highway Safety Program is an integral part of our efforts to reduce highway fatalities and educate citizens on the importance of driving safely. 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. Last year North Carolina's usage rate was 88.5 percent, our highest usage rate to date.
Because of the success of North Carolina's "Click It or Ticket" it 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 who 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.
Projections show that if North Carolinians increased the current safety belt usage rate of 88.5 percent to 90 percent, 37 fatalities would be prevented. This increase in compliance would also prevent 600 serious injuries and result in $113 million in economic savings.
Conclusion<br>
The bottom line is that the "Click It or Ticket" initiative saves lives. It's that simple.
Over the next week 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.
Let's all do our part to be safe and always buckle up. Remember its "Click It or Ticket.