The La Porte Police Department announced today its participation in the national and statewide 2015 Click It or Ticket enforcement mobilization occurring May 15-31, 2015. Officers will join more than 250 state and local law enforcement agencies, and thousands more across the country, to conduct high-visibility patrols encouraging drivers and passengers to buckle up.
“Wearing your seat belt can increase your chance of surviving a crash by more than 50 percent,” said Captain Tom Heath. “This campaign provides us the opportunity to increase that conversation and focus patrols toward unrestrained driving. We want to remind drivers and their occupants, if we see you unbelted, we will pull you over.”
Click It or Ticket is an annual enforcement effort supported by federal funding allocated to La Porte Police Department from the Traffic Safety division of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI). Officers will work at least 110 hours of overtime to conduct seat belt patrols around the clock. According to ICJI, in 2014, there were 748 fatalities on Indiana roadways. Of those fatalities, nearly one-third (29 percent) were unrestrained.
“While seat belt usage in Indiana passenger vehicles is over 91 percent, there’s still room for improvement,” said ICJI Director Mary Allen. “We know seat belt usage saves lives, and we are grateful for the participating agencies that are focusing efforts on increased education and enforcement to drive home this message.”
Indiana law enforcement agencies have been actively involved in the Click It or Ticket campaign for over 20 years.
For more information regarding the Click It or Ticket enforcement mobilization campaign, please visit: http://www.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/ciot/index.html. To learn more about the La Porte Police Department, please visit: http://www.lpcitypd.com.