Border 2 Border National Seat Belt Initiative on May 20

Joint Effort Targets Unbuckled Motorists in Maryland, Delaware
Buckle Up, Every Seat, Every Time

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: 
Cynthia Cavett, Delaware Office of Highway Safety (302) 744-2743

DOVER, DE (May 15, 2019) – The Delaware Office of Highway Safety (DOHS) and the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration (MDOT MVA) are partnering with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), state and local law enforcement to kick off the annual Click It or Ticket seat belt safety campaign with Border 2 Border (B2B), a 1-day national seat belt awareness event on May 20.

“Buckling your seat belt is probably the single easiest thing you can do to protect yourself when you get in your car to drive. Delaware has a high seat belt use rate, however in 2018, 53 percent of vehicle occupants killed were unbuckled,” said Christopher Klein, Deputy Principal Assistant, Department of Safety & Homeland Security & DOHS, Acting Director.

In Delaware, 92.4 percent of drivers and front-seat passengers wear seat belts. For Maryland, 90.3 percent of drivers and front-seat passengers wear seat belts when traveling on state roadways, which is down from 92 percent in 2017. One in three occupants who die in a motor vehicle crash each year are unbelted.

“The Delaware Office of Highway Safety (DOHS) is happy to partner with the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s (MDOT MVA) Highway Safety Office and agencies across the country to promote the “border-to-border” enforcement.  Law enforcement agencies in all three Delaware counties are working together to enforce Delaware’s primary laws for seat belts and child passenger safety to coincide with the national Click-It-or-Ticket initiative. It only takes 3 seconds to click it!” Sarah Cattie, DOHS Occupant Protection Program Manager.

Law enforcement across the region will join a multi-state seat belt enforcement effort on May 20 to initiate the Border 2 Border (B2B) 2019 initiative which includes a four-hour enforcement crackdown in each state. Local and national ads will run on billboards, television, radio and online through early June to generate awareness of this stepped-up enforcement.

“The 3 seconds it takes to buckle your seat belt could save your life,” said Christine Nizer, MDOT Motor Vehicle Administrator and Governor Larry Hogan’s Highway Safety Representative. “The driver sets the example – we’ve found that passengers are much more likely to buckle up if the driver does.”

Unbuckled passengers can become projectiles in a crash, causing serious or fatal injuries to others in the car. In 2018, only 70 percent of back seat occupants in cars, SUVs, and pick-up trucks were buckled up in Maryland.

“Highway safety is one of the most important issues we face daily,” said Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police. “As we work to reduce crash deaths and injuries in our state and region, troopers will increase their vigilance, focusing especially on motorists violating the seat belt law.”

It’s the Law!
In Delaware: Driver will be cited for anyone in the car not wearing a seat belt or properly restraining a child. This is a primary offense. The penalty is $25 but with court costs and fees, the ticket will be $83.50.
 
In Maryland: Every driver and passenger must wear a seat belt. Children under the age of eight must be in a proper booster or child safety seat. Each person not buckled will receive an $83 citation.

About the Delaware Office of Highway Safety (DOHS)
The Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is committed to improving the safety of Delaware’s motoring public by focusing on behavioral traffic safety issues such as impaired driving, seat belt use, speeding, child passenger safety, pedestrian and bicycle safety, motorcycle safety, and teen driving issues. FAQs can be found at ArriveAliveDE.com.

About the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration (MDOT MVA)
Learn more about the Maryland Highway Safety Office’s Toward Zero Deaths campaign at towardzerodeathsmd.com, on Facebook at TowardZeroDeathsMD, on Twitter at @tzd_maryland and on Instagram at twdzerodeaths_md.  

Dave makes some terrible decisions—especially while driving. So buckle up. Wearing your seat belt can help protect you from drivers like Dave. Please feel free to share this video. Use the hashtags #CIOT and #ArriveAliveDE.

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