Drivers beware! Starting today, more officers will look for seat belt violators

WSBTV.com News Staff
·2 min read
2

Georgia drivers better buckle up!

Today is the first day of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety’s “100 Days of Summer HEAT” and the beginning of the state’s annual “Click It or Ticket” campaign.

You’ll see more officers on the road looking out for seat belt violations from today until June 4, which is the end of Memorial Day weekend.

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Officers statewide will be enforcing Georgia’s seat belt and child passenger safety laws with the goal of saving lives.

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According to the GOHS, you only have a 50% chance of surviving a car crash if you aren’t wearing a seat belt.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 1,786 people died in traffic crashes in Georgia last year, which is an approximately 20 percent increase over a five-year period when 1,505 people were killed in traffic crashes in the state in 2018.

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According to NHTSA, 56 percent of the persons killed in passenger vehicle crashes in Georgia in 2021 were not wearing seat belts and the number of unbelted persons killed in passenger vehicle crashes in Georgia has increased by 20 percent over a five-year period from 2017 to 2021.

“Mistakes happen on the road every day and the goal is for everyone to be able to be able to walk away when a mistake behind the wheel leads to a crash,” Governor’s Office of Highway Safety Director Allen Poole said. “Seat belts offer the best protection to anyone riding in a vehicle in the event of a crash and taking a few seconds to buckle a seat belt before every trip could one day save your life or the life of a family member or friend.”