May 2003 Safety Belt Mobilization
Report for the Week Ending May 30, 2003

Activities and Highlights
Injury Control & Resources

Click It or Ticket! March 14, 2003 Click It or Ticket! March 21, 2003 Click It or Ticket! March 28, 2003 Click It or Ticket! April 4, 2003 Click It or Ticket! April 11, 2003 Click It or Ticket! April 18, 2003 Click It or Ticket! April 25, 2003 Click It or Ticket! May 2, 2003 Click It or Ticket! May 9, 2003 Click It or Ticket! May 16, 2003 Click It or Ticket! May 30, 2003

Region 1 - CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT
Vermont's Click It or Ticket Coordinators encouraged local employers who attended the two-day Vermont Business Expo trade show to participate in Mobilization efforts.

In Connecticut, 100 percent of all local and state enforcement agencies participated in the Mobilization. Click It Or Ticket banners were displayed in towns and cities across the state.

A safety belt checkpoint stop in Connecticut led to the arrest of the "blond bandit" who robbed six banks in New York and Connecticut this week.

Region 2 - NY, NJ, PR, VI
Puerto Rico's Mobilization efforts have been bolstered by the distribution of 49 new police vehicles that were added to the fleet especially for the Click It or Ticket campaign.

Region 3 - DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV
Delaware hosted the Region III Operation CARE (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) press event. Troopers from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, New York and New Jersey joined government officials in announcing the Click It or Ticket Mobilization.

In Pennsylvania, over 3500 junior and senior high school students have participated in local law enforcement's Seat Belt Survival "101" course.

During the first week of the mobilization, District of Columbia law enforcement conducted daily Click It Or Ticket checkpoints.

Members of a Virginia chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha (an African-American sorority) are distributing campaign materials to youth groups throughout the State.

West Virginia's Charleston Newspaper Company is showing support for the Mobilization by displaying Click It or Ticket decals on all of its delivery trucks.

Region 4 - AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN
In Alabama, over 200 law enforcement checkpoints and patrols were conducted, 50,000 Click It or Ticket brochures were distributed, and 35 television and radio interviews were conducted.

North Carolina focused on its lowest use rate county with great results: 773 safety belt and 32 CPS citations were issued in one week, the most statewide. Effort is supported by major press events and paid advertising.

In conjunction with 16 local law enforcement press events, the Tennessee Governor's Highway Safety Representative and Colonel of the Highway Patrol, held Mobilization press conferences in Johnson City, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.

Region 5 - IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI
Indiana's first week of Mobilization enforcement activity resulted in over 5200 citations for seatbelt and child restraint violations.

A medical doctor from Loyola University Medical Center wrote an editorial that supported Click It or Ticket campaign efforts, and discussed what the medical community sees when it treats unbelted crash victims. This editorial was distributed to approximately 90 newspapers.

Michigan's Department of Budget printed a Click It or Ticket message on the payroll stubs for over 50,000 State employees.

A Minnesota State Senator who was "saved by the belt," spoke about the importance of buckling up at Minnesota's Mobilization kickoff event.

Region 6 - AR, LA, NM, OK, TX
Fifteen law enforcement agencies sent 100 uniformed officers to the Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX Mobilization kickoff event, which featured a speaker who had lost his unbelted 15-year old son in a crash.

Oklahoma became the 26th state to have 100 percent participation by its elected sheriffs (77) in NHTSA's Click It or Ticket campaign.

Region 7 - IA, KS, MO, NE
The Director of the Kansas Department of Transportation and Superintendent of the Kansas State Patrol attended the State's Mobilization kickoff press event, and then spent the week visiting 48 media outlets to encourage them to report about the Click It or Ticket campaign.

Region 8 - CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY
The Colorado Office of Highway Safety created two websites - one for law enforcement agencies to report safety belt information, and the second for citizens to send e-mails with safety belt messages. The web address is www.coloradoclickit.com.

The Mayor of Great Falls opened Montana's Click It or Ticket campaign kickoff by speaking to youth, who are beginning summer holidays and increasing their travel.

South Dakota's Big D Petroleum Company has installed "Buckle Up. It's the Law." pump toppers on their pumps that are located in areas with low seat belt use.

Representatives from the Utah Highway Patrol and NHTSA, and a parent of an unrestrained crash victim discussed impaired driving and safety belt use with over 2,000 airmen of the 388th Fighter Wing, at Hill Air Force Base. Informational materials were also given to the airmen as they left the two-hour presentation.

Region 9 - AZ, CA, HI, NV
Law enforcement officers in Roseville, California distributed tickets for 75 safety belt violations on the first day of the Mobilization. Later in the week, they saw the effect of their Mobilization efforts when a head-on collision occurred. All occupants were wearing safety belts and survived.

Law enforcement in the Las Vegas, NV Metro area conducted round-the-clock Mobilization patrols.

Region 10 - AK, ID, OR, WA
Press coverage about a new Oregon law, which prohibits youth from riding in the back of pick up trucks, is enhancing the importance of traffic safety during the May Mobilization.

Over 120 Washington law enforcement agencies joined to kick off their Mobilization efforts, and are covering every county in the State.