Beginning May 18th, Florida launched a statewide Click It or Ticket campaign to crackdown on all unbuckled drivers and passengers. Florida legislators have passed a primary seat belt law, but it will not go into effect until June 30th.
The Click It or Ticket campaign started before Memorial Day weekend, which has the highest annual rate of traffic deaths. The campaign was launched in cooperation with the Florida Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Florida law enforcement agencies.
Most Florida residents use their seat belts, but it is the minority who does not who account for most of the traffic deaths each year. In 2007, one in five Florida residents who did not use a seat belt accounted for three in five of the traffic deaths that year.
This year marks the ninth anniversary of the Click It or Ticket public education campaign. The campaign will target people who are least likely to use a seat belt – pickup truck drivers and passengers, African American men and Hispanic men.
According to the latest traffic statistics, 1,972 people were killed in Florida in vehicles that were equipped with safety belts. Of those killed, 1,201 were not wearing seat belts at the time of the accident.