Delaware Office of Highway Safety Launches Operation Crash Reduction and New Website Over Most Dangerous Holiday Period

DOVER, Del. (October 5, 2020) – The Delaware Office of Highway Safety (DOHS) is launching a combination of initiatives over this October holiday weekend, which is the most dangerous time of the year for fatal crashes in the state with increased vehicular travel. To help drivers and passengers remember the importance of buckling up, the DOHS is teaming with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to check for seat belt usage in an initiative called Operation Crash Reduction. Additionally, DOHS is relaunching its highway safety website, ArriveAliveDE.com, with more information and interactive tools to help inform Delawareans of road safety practices, including seat belt usage.

Operation Crash Reduction focuses on Delaware, the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. According to NHTSA, from 2014 to 2018, this region had its highest number of fatal crashes (882) between the dates of October 1 and 15, and October was the month when most fatal crashes occurred. This regional campaign runs from October 9 through October 12 and includes a social media campaign to further raise awareness.

“During Operation Crash Reduction and all year long, our mission is to reduce crashes on Delaware roadways and save lives,” explains Kimberly Chesser, Director, Delaware Office of Highway Safety. “With more cars on the road during this holiday period, there is more speeding, distracted driving, and impaired driving behaviors, which lead to more crashes. We strive to provide our citizens with the information they need to stay safe, and that includes wearing your seat belt because buckling up provides the best defense against injury or death in a crash,” says Chesser. 

Through the relaunched website, ArriveAliveDE.com, DOHS reminds drivers of the importance of seat belt use and other safe driving practices. “ArriveAliveDE.com contains the most up-to-date information on road safety to help Delawareans adopt safe driving, walking, and riding behaviors,” says Cynthia Cavett, Marketing Specialist II & Public Information Officer, Delaware Office of Highway Safety. “The site allows visitors to navigate and learn by road safety topic or by user role, such as driver or pedestrian. It features numerous new interactive tools and quizzes, all designed to educate Delawareans on road safety. Visitors can also register for upcoming DUI checkpoint text alerts,” explains Cavett.

Delawareans will find a dynamic, centralized repository of road safety information at ArriveAliveDE.com detailing nine road safety topics determined to be the priority areas by the Office of Highway Safety’s rigorous analyses of crash data and trends. These include Seat Belt Safety, Distracted Driving, Drunk Driving, Drugged Driving, Speeding, Pedestrian Safety, Child Passenger Safety, Motorcycle Safety, and Teen Driver Safety.

“It’s very important to get out the Buckle Up message because seat belts save lives. We invite all Delawareans to visit ArriveAliveDE.com to learn more about seat belt safety and other road safety topics to help save lives and reduce crashes across our state,” says Sarah Cattie, Occupant Protection Program Manager, Delaware Office of Highway Safety.

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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.

Media Contact:

Cynthia Cavett

Marketing Specialist II & Public Information Officer

Phone: (302) 943-7293

Email address: Cynthia.Cavett@Delaware.Gov

Dover –  From May 12^th to 26th, officers from 36 State, County, and municipal law enforcement agencies issued a total of 1,035 citations to unbuckled motorists during the annual Click It or Ticket campaign.  The enforcement portion of the campaign involved traffic safety checkpoints and saturation patrols both day and night.

Officers working the 2 week Click It or Ticket campaign also issued 43 child restraint citations, 489 speeding citations, made 9 DUI arrests, issued 334 cell phone citations, apprehended 24 wanted persons, made 21 drug arrests, and arrested 2 others for felony violations.

Delaware’s current statewide seat belt usage rate is 92%.  OHS officials have begun their evaluation to determine if there has been any increase in the state’s belt usage rate in the last year by conducting a series of observational seat belt surveys at locations throughout Delaware.  OHS officials will be surveying motorists on roads throughout the state and recording whether drivers and passengers are wearing seat belts.  Motorists on all types of roadways from interstates to two-lane roads will be observed.  Survey results should be available by early fall.

Since January 1^st, 39% of all drivers and passengers killed in vehicle crashes in the First State were not wearing seat belts and as many as half of them may have survived the crash had they been buckled up.  Your chances of being partial or fully ejected from a vehicle increases significantly when not wearing a seat belt. The safest place in a crash is in the vehicle.  Click It or Ticket is a nationwide seat belt enforcement and awareness campaign aimed at saving lives by increasing the number of people who consistently buckle up.

Delaware’s campaign included an awareness message featuring a Delaware State Trooper “I write tickets to save lives.” The messages were aired statewide on radio, internet, and print and billboards.  OHS continued their partnerships with Racing Limos of Dover to wrap the hood of a limo with the Click It or Ticket message. OHS also sent seat belt kits to high schools that gave fun ideas and activities for the schools to help teach students about the importance of bucking up such as setting up a faux checkpoint as students leave the school parking lot.  OHS also partnered with Chick-Fil-A in Camden for a seat belt event featuring the Chick-Fil-A cow and OHS own Bucklebear.   OHS also promoted seat belt safety at Dover International Speedway May 30-June 1st with the NASCAR Nationwide Series Buckle Up 200 presented by Click It or Ticket that was also accompanied by a Buckle Up display in the Monster Mile FanZone with seat belt activities for fans.

OHS has also established new partnerships this year with several little league organizations throughout the state. Throughout the summer OHS will bring the seat belt message to parents and kids during the games with activities including a fast pitch game, mascot appearances by Wilmington Blue Rocks “Rocky”, the Shorebirds mascot “Sherman”, and OHS very own Bucklebear.  Each mascot will be handing out custom Buckle Up baseball cards to kids to teach them about seat belt safety.

The next wave of seat belt enforcement and education in hopes of getting more drivers and passengers buckled up will run June 6th to 19th followed by another wave July 18^th –August 2nd.

Seat belts save lives. Get the facts:

• Wearing a seat belt decreases your risk of being seriously injured or killed in a crash by approximately 50%.
• Strong seat belt laws protect families.  When parents are buckled up, 90% of the time their children are too.
• The safest place for children under 12 to be buckled up is the back seat.
• Hospital data shows that unbelted occupants in crashes are 3 times more likely to require a hospital stay. On average, hospital costs for an unbelted crash victim are 55% higher than those for a belted crash victim.

For more information on Click It or Ticket enforcement results and a look at updated campaign materials, please visit www.BuckleUpDE.org, like us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ArriveAliveDE or follow us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/DEHighwaySafe .

Dover, DE-  As motorists take to the roads this Memorial Day holiday, law enforcement officers from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania will be out in full force, taking part in the 2014 national Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement mobilization and cracking down on motorists who are not belted.

Today, May 19th, officers from Delaware State Police, Delaware River and Bay Authority, Maryland State Police, New Jersey, Pennsylvania State Police, Selbyville PD, and Worcester County Sheriff’s Department will be teaming up and joining forces to mobilize the Click It or Ticket (CIOT) “Border to Border” enforcement operation from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.  Agencies will be providing increased seat belt enforcement at border sites sending a ‘zero tolerance’ message to the public: Driving or riding unbuckled will result in a ticket, no matter what State.  A total of eleven states are participating along the northeast including Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

“Seat belts save thousands of lives every year, but far too many motorists are still not buckling up, especially at night when the risk of getting in a crash is even greater,” said Colonel Richard Arroyo of the Delaware River and Bay Authority police department.  “We want to make this the safest summer possible. Buckling up is not optional; it’s the difference between life and death in a crash.  That’s why we’re out here enforcing the law.  Click it or Ticket, every time, day or night.”

At a press event held earlier today at the Delaware Memorial Bridge to announce the Border to Border enforcement operation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) representatives from Region 2 (PA, NJ), Region 3 (DE, MD), and a crash survivor stressed the Click It or Ticket campaign message to buckle up day and night.

NHTSA Region 2 Administrator, Tom Louizou focused on drivers most at risk across the nation, “Our younger motorists—young men in particular—are most at risk.  62 percent of those killed in crashes were NOT buckled up—the highest percentage of any age group”, said Louizou.

Elizabeth A. Baker, Ph.D, NHTSA Region 3 Administrator commented on when most unbelted crashes happen.  “Most law-abiding citizens have gotten the message to buckle up. But the same is not true for nighttime drivers and passengers”, said Baker.  “Of those killed in nighttime crashes in 2012, 62% – two out of three – were not wearing their seat belts.”

Firsthand experience of what could happen to a person when involved in a unbelted crash was shared by Chris Weersing of Pennsylvania.   Chris was driving with a friend and involved in a single vehicle crash in 2005.   The friend was wearing a seat belt and hit his head on the windshield, Chris was not wearing his seat belt and his head hit a tree.  His friend walked away with a minor concussion, Chris was in a coma and not expected to recover.  Today Chris lives with the effects and injuries of an unbelted crash including traumatic brain injury, memory loss, and having to re-learn daily living activities.

Delaware is seeing a decrease in unbelted fatals compared to this time last year. At this time last year 56% of the fatal vehicle occupants were not wearing seat belts compared to 42% currently.  There have been a total of 33 vehicle occupants killed in a fatal crash this year in Delaware.  Delaware’s seat belt use rate is 92% compared to the national seat belt use rate of 86%.

Delaware law requires drivers and all passengers, including those in the back seat, to wear a seat belt.  An officer can pull over a driver if he sees any person in the vehicle not wearing a seat belt, even if there is no other violation. The ticket, which goes to the driver no matter who is unbuckled in the vehicle, totals $83.50.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 52 percent of the 21,253 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2011 were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash.  And unbelted fatalities are more prevalent at night than during the daytime. According to NHTSA, 62 percent of the 10,135 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2011 during the overnight hours of 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m. were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash.

In 2011, seat belts saved an estimated 11,949 lives nationwide according to NHTSA. While this year’s Click It or Ticket enforcement mobilization runs from May 20 through June 2, officers are out enforcing seat belt laws year-round.

For more on the national Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov or for Delaware information please visit www.buckleupde.org.  For pictures of the Border to Border press event please visit www.facebook.com/ArriveAliveDE .

Delaware police officers are writing tickets to save lives.

Dover –  The Click It or Ticket campaign will be in full effect with statewide overtime seat belt enforcement starting Monday, May 12th through 26th.  Enforcement includes seat belt checkpoints in Dover and Wilmington and 446 saturation patrols to be conducted day & night by 35 state, local, and municipal police agencies statewide. Much of the enforcement will occur in the afternoons and evenings when the majority of unrestrained injuries and fatal crashes occur.

Delaware’s seat belt use rate is 92% compared to the national use rate of 86%.  At this time last year 50% of the 14 fatal vehicle occupants in Delaware were not wearing seat belts compared to currently 42% of 31 fatal vehicle occupants.

Delaware law requires drivers and all passengers, including those in the back seat, to wear a seat belt.  An officer can pull over a driver if he sees any person in the vehicle not wearing a seat belt, even if there is no other violation.  Officers will be issuing citations for seat belt violations as part of a zero tolerance policy.  The ticket, which goes to the driver no matter who is unbuckled in the vehicle, totals $83.50.

Participating agencies include Bethany Beach, Blades, Bridgeville, Camden, Capitol, Cheswold, Clayton, DE River & Bay Authority, Dewey Beach, Dover, Elsmere, Felton, Fenwick Island, Georgetown, Greenwood, Harrington, Laurel, Lewes, Middletown, Milford, Millsboro, Milton, New Castle City, New Castle County, Newark, Newport, Ocean View, Rehoboth Beach, Selbyville, Seaford, Smyrna, University of Delaware, Wilmington, and Wyoming police agencies along with and Delaware State Police.

Delaware law enforcement will also be participating in a one day seat belt border to border enforcement blitz on May 19^th.  The Border to Border initiative will be kicked off at 10:30 a.m with a joint press event at the Delaware Memorial Bridge Veterans Memorial Park with law enforcement from Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware.  Law enforcement agencies along the east coast are teaming up to provide increased seat belt enforcement at border sites, sending a ‘zero tolerance’ message to the public: Driving or riding unbuckled will result in a ticket, no matter what State.

“As we kick-off  the busy summer driving season it’s important that everyone buckles up every time they go out, both day and night – no excuses,” said Jana Simpler, Director for the Office of Highway Safety. “Delaware law enforcement officers are prepared to ticket anyone who is not wearing their seat belt – Click It or Ticket.”

Click It or Ticket enforcement is being accompanied by paid media including radio, tv, billboards, gas pump toppers, digital & Pandora advertising. OHS will also promote seat belt safety through community outreach and public awareness activities including the Buckle Up Stencil project, messaging at the Wilmington Grand Prix, a seat belt education event with Chick-Fil-A in Camden, pizza box stickers, little league sponsorships, and race weekend activities at Dover International Speedway in the Monster Mile FanZone.

OHS has also established new partnerships this year with Dover International Speedway and several little league organizations. OHS is partnering with several little league organizations throughout the summer to bring the seat belt message to parents and kids during the games with activities including a fast pitch game, mascot appearances by Wilmington Blue Rocks “Rocky”, the Shorebirds mascot “Sherman”, and OHS very own Bucklebear.  Each mascot will be handing out custom Buckle Up baseball cards to kids to teach them about seat belt safety.  OHS will also be sponsoring the May 31st NASCAR Nationwide Series race- Buckle Up 200 presented by Click It or Ticket.

High School seat belt checks will be conducted at several high schools by the student resource officers along with student groups.  They are handing out Smarties candy and dum-dum lollipops along with good and bad ‘tickets’ to occupants in the car depending on who is buckled up or not.

Seat belts save lives. Get the facts:

• Wearing a seat belt decreases your risk of being seriously injured or killed in a crash by approximately 50%.
• Strong seat belt laws protect families.  When parents are buckled up, 90% of the time their children are too.
• The safest place for children under 12 to be buckled up is the back seat.
• Hospital data shows that unbelted occupants in crashes are 3 times more likely to require a hospital stay. On average, hospital costs for an unbelted crash victim are 55% higher than those for a belted crash victim.

For more information on Click It or Ticket campaign and enforcement results please visit www.BuckleUpDE.org, Like us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ArriveAliveDE or follow us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/DEHighwaySafe .

Dover –   Do you buckle up every time you get in a vehicle?  92% of Delawareans do, every trip every time.  The Delaware Office of Highway Safety (OHS) and law enforcement officials are reminding the other 8% to buckle up.  OHS will coordinate overtime seat belt enforcement with our law enforcement partners from March 8th to 16th.  Participating law enforcement agencies include Milford PD, New Castle County PD, Newark PD, Wilmington PD, Wyoming PD, and Delaware State Police.

OHS will be combining enforcement with paid media, education & outreach that will get the message to buckle up to the individuals in need of hearing the message.  Posters, informational flyers, and newsletters have been distributed to traffic safety partners, schools, and businesses that highlight the importance of seat belt use.  In addition, OHS is sponsoring the DIAA Boys Basketball tournament on March 6 and 8 at the UD Bob Carpenter Sports building and will have a Buckle Up Photo Booth, seat belt informational table, seat belt public service announcements, and halftime shooting contest to win NASCAR tickets to Dover International Speedway.  The shooting contest contestants will be chosen from those who visit the seat belt informational table and participants of the Buckle Up Photo Booth.

Paid media will accompany the enforcement with ads on tv, online, and Pandora.  In the new ads, individuals give their reasons why they wear a seat belt: “I do it for protection,” “I do it because, I like the way it makes me feel,” “I do it because my girlfriend prefers it”, yet 8% of Delawareans still don’t buckle up.

Delaware’s seat belt law requires all vehicle occupants, even back seat passengers, to be “properly” buckled up.  “Properly” means that both lap and shoulder belts must be worn.  In particular, the shoulder belt must be worn across the chest.  Anyone who puts the shoulder belt under their arm, or behind their back is in violation of state law and is putting themselves at greater risk for being seriously injured in a crash.

The law allows officers to pull over a driver if he/she sees any person in the vehicle not wearing a safety belt.  Officers will issue citations for seat belt violations as part of a zero-tolerance policy.  The ticket, which goes to the driver no matter who is unbuckled in the vehicle, is a $25.00 fine plus court administrative fees.

In addition, Delaware’s child restraint law says that the driver is responsible for making sure all children in the vehicle are properly buckled up.  All children under the age of 8 years or 65lbs must be in the appropriate child restraint seat (an infant, toddler or booster seat).  Children who are 8 or at least 65lbs in weight, whichever comes first, must be restrained in a seat belt.  Children under the age of 12 must ride in the back seat when front seat passenger air bags are present.  Child restraint violations are also $25.00 plus court administrative fees.

More waves of seat belt enforcement will take place in May, June, and July.    Delaware’s current seat belt use rate of 92% exceeds the latest 2012 national seat belt use rate of 86%.

For more information on Delaware’s seat belt law or enforcement campaigns, please visit the Office of Highway Safety’s website at www.ohs.delaware.gov, Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ArriveAliveDE, or Follow us on Twitter @DEHighwaySafe.  For information on the latest national seat belt use rate by states (2012) visit http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811809.pdf.