Dover, Del. (May 20, 2024) — The Delaware Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is reminding drivers why it’s important to buckle up during the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) national Click It or Ticket enforcement effort. OHS is partnering with local and state police to conduct high-visibility enforcement starting May 20, – June 9, to ensure drivers and passengers buckle up every trip, every time.

“In 2023, Delaware saw its highest seatbelt usage rate at 93.9 percent. Although that sounds great, 50 percent of our roadway fatalities were still unrestrained,” said Sharon Bryson, Director, Delaware Office of Highway Safety. “This proves that we must continue to remind Delawareans of the importance of using a seatbelt. This enforcement is not about citations, it’s about saving lives. We see the devastating results of not wearing a seatbelt too often. Buckling up takes only seconds. It is one of the simplest things we can do to increase the chances of surviving in a crash.”

Over the past 5 years in Delaware (2019-2023), younger adults were the most likely to be involved in unrestrained crashes, with the highest number of unrestrained occupants aged under 30 (49 percent), and in that group, occupants 19 and under were involved in the most crashes. In May of 2023, 86 percent of drivers and passengers involved in a collision and wearing a seatbelt sustained no injuries. Seatbelts work and significantly decrease your chances of death or serious injury in a crash.

According to NHTSA, in 2023, the national seatbelt usage rate was 91.9 percent. There were 25,420 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2022. About 50 percent of those fatalities were unbuckled. Click it or Ticket is a day and night enforcement. Most unrestrained fatal crashes tend to happen at night. In 2022, 57 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed at night (6:00 p.m. – 5:59 a.m.) were not wearing their seat belts.

In conjunction with this campaign, OHS wants to remind everyone of the updated Car Seat Law in Delaware. Caregivers must comply with the new law by June 30, 2024.

Out with the Old – Delaware’s Child Restraint Law used to state:

• All children must be properly restrained in a federally approved child safety seat appropriate for the child’s age, weight, and height up to 8 years of age or 65 lbs.

In with the New – Effective June 30, 2024, Delaware’s Child Restraint Law requires:

• Children under age 2 AND 30 pounds must ride in a rear-facing car seat.
• Children under age 4 AND 40 pounds must ride in a harnessed car seat.
• Children in booster seats must remain in their booster seat until reaching the height or weight maximum listed by the booster seat manufacturer (There’s no booster seat with a height maximum lower than 4’4″ or a weight maximum less than 80 pounds).

The penalty for the first violation is a referral to one of the OHS car seat fitting stations. Don’t let a violation be the reason you have your car seat checked. Make a FREE appointment now with a Certified Car Seat Technician to make sure your children and young family members are riding safely. You can find the contact information for the fitting stations on our website: ArriveAliveDE – Secure the Kids

“Car seats can pose a challenge to parents and caregivers. That’s why we offer this service of checking car seats for free,” said Aubrey Klick, Child Passenger Safety Coordinator, Delaware Office of Highway Safety. “You don’t have to leave the appointment until you are confident and comfortable with installing the car seat and properly restraining the child. With 4 out of 5 car seats being misused, scheduling an appointment with a Certified Car Seat Technician can only improve the safety of your most precious cargo.”

Occupant protection is important for all ages and sizes. In addition to increased patrols, OHS wants to educate drivers and passengers on the dangers of unrestrained driving and the correct way to buckle up safely:

Consequences of not wearing a seat belt:

• Buckling up helps keep you safe and secure inside your vehicle, whereas not buckling up can result in being ejected from the vehicle in a crash, which is almost always deadly. 
• Airbags are not enough to protect you; in fact, the force of an airbag can seriously injure or even kill you or your young passengers if not properly buckled up or in the right car seat.
• Improperly wearing a seat belt, such as putting the strap below your arm, puts you and your children at risk in a crash.

Guidelines to buckle up safely:

• The lap belt and shoulder belt are secured across the pelvis and rib cage, which are better able to withstand crash forces than other parts of your body.
• Place the shoulder belt across the middle of your chest and away from your neck.
• The lap belt rests across your hips, not your stomach.
• NEVER put the shoulder belt behind your back or under an arm.
• Children are much more likely to buckle up themselves if their caregivers also buckle up.
• Don’t rush to transition your child to next car seat. Follow the guidelines and keep your child in each stage of child restraint as long as possible.

For more information on the campaign, statistics, and education visit www.arrivealivede.com/buckle-up/

About the Delaware Office of Highway Safety
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. Follow OHS on the Delaware Office of Highway Safety website, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok.

Media Contact:
Delaware Office of Highway Safety
Meghan Niddrie
Meghan.Niddrie@Delaware.gov
302-744-2517 (office)
302-535-1031 (cell)

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