Members of the Berlin police department took part in the 2024 Click It or Ticket/Border to Border event at Citizens Bank Park on May 21, an initiative that drew law-enforcement personnel from the tri-state area and safety partners such as PennDot.
The Click It or Ticket/Border to Border campaign is part of a national effort to bolster awareness of seat belt safety.
That is something Berlin police already support. But the campaign’s focus is also on highlighting national statistics on improper seat belt use. On average, every 47 minutes, someone not wearing a seat belt dies in a car crash. In 2022, 11,302 people killed in car crashes were not wearing them. The national estimate of seat belt use during the day by adult front-seat passengers was 91.9% last year.
More vehicle occupants without seat belts died in traffic crashes at night (6,252) than during the day (4,949) in 2022. That same year, 57% of the same occupants killed at night were not wearing their seat belts.
Among young adults 18 to 34 killed in passenger vehicles in 2022, 60% were completely unrestrained. Men – who make up the majority of traffic fatalities – are overrepresented in unrestrained passenger vehicle occupant deaths, with 54% of them (8,098) and 41% of women (3,201) dying without seat belts that year.
The seat belt campaign also addressed misconceptions regarding different vehicle types and seating positions. In 2022, 61% of pickup truck occupants killed were not buckled, compared with 47% of passenger car occupants. Despite the belief that the back seat of a car is safer, 59% of those killed in that seat were unrestrained, compared with 48% of front-seat occupants.
Rural areas are often perceived as having a lower risk of fatalities, but 51% of unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants in those areas were killed in 2022, versus 48% in urban areas.
For more information about the Click It or Ticket campaign and seat belt safety, visit NHTSA’s website.
