Deputies enforce Click It or Ticket

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WALA) - Escambia County Sheriff’s Office says deputies will begin a two week crackdown designed to increase seatbelt use and decrease motor vehicle fatalities across the county.

The 2012 national Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement campaign is designed to help save lives by cracking down on those who don’t buckle up.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2010 nationally, 61 percent of the 10,647 passenger vehicle occupants who were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes overnight (6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m.) were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the fatal crash, compared to 42 percent during the daytime hours.

NHTSA statistics show that in 2010 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 12,546 lives nationwide.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office says that’s why deputies are joining state and local law enforcement agencies and highway safety groups in supporting an aggressive national Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement campaign from May 21 through June 3.

Deputies will be ticketing unbelted vehicle occupants around the clock.