Click It or Ticket seatbelt campaign in place to increase seat belt use rate this holiday weekend

The Department of Motor Vehicles and AAA Mid-Atlantic joins Virginia’s first responders, local law enforcement and Virginia State Police to focus on saving lives through increased seat belt use by participating in the national Click It or Ticket campaign through June 4.

This annual campaign takes place during the Memorial Day holiday, one of the year’s busiest and deadliest travel weekends.

AAA is predicting more than 42 million people will be traveling nationwide for the long Memorial Day weekend. That’s just 1 percent shy of the holiday travel numbers from the pre-pandemic days of 2019.

Nearly 90 percent of all travelers, or about 37 million people, will be on the roads.

Here in the Commonwealth, 1.16 million Virginians will be traveling, with more than one million of them predicted to be hitting the roads.

“The roads of Virginia will be very busy this weekend with holiday travelers, and that means there’s a greater potential for crashes,” says Morgan Dean, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesperson. “We want everyone to be safe. We encourage drivers to limit distractions, obey the speed limit, and make sure they buckle up everyone in the vehicle before they set out on that Great American Road Trip.”

More than 18 percent of Virginians still don’t wear their seat belt, according to the state’s most recent seat belt survey.

In Virginia last year:

• 5,427 unrestrained people involved in crashes
• 3,702 unrestrained injuries
• 375 deaths involving unrestrained people
• Approximately one of every two crash fatalities in Virginia involved occupants who did not wear a seat belt
• People aged 21-30 made up 68 percent of unrestrained fatalities and the highest number of unrestrained fatalities happened between midnight and 3 a.m. (70 percent).

“These numbers mean thousands of Virginians still choose not to make the simple, safe choice of buckling up as their best defense against a reckless, impaired or distracted driver,” says DMV Commissioner Gerald Lackey, the Governor’s Highway Safety Representative. “By participating in Click It or Ticket, we are raising awareness and educating Virginians on the importance of always wearing a seat belt, every time.”

Law enforcement will support DMV’s seat belt awareness messaging by conducting high visibility enforcement along busy roads and highways to prevent avoidable crashes and save lives.

“Buckling up is not merely a legal obligation,” said Colonel Gary T. Settle, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “Wearing a seat belt is an act of self-preservation. Moreover, the impact of wearing seat belts extends beyond our own lives. It sets an example for others, especially our young people who are observing our behaviors and learning from our actions. Simply click it and avoid the ticket.”