While more than 90 percent of Texans make the right choice to wear a seat belt, that still means 10 percent of Texans make the dangerous choice to stay unprotected on the road.
TxDOT’s goal is to get 100 percent of drivers and passengers to wear their seat belt 100 percent of the time.
From May 22 through June 4, including Memorial Day Weekend, law enforcement from around the state will be working overtime ticketing motorists who are not buckled up. State law requires that every person in a vehicle be secured by a seat belt whether riding in the front or back seat. Fines and court costs for failing to fasten seat belts can add up to $250 or more.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the Click It or Ticket initiative has saved more than 7,399 lives, prevented more than 120,000 serious injuries, and resulted in $28.5 billion in economic savings since its inception in 2002.
TxDOT’s Click It or Ticket campaign is a key component of #EndTheStreakTX, a broader social media and word-of-mouth effort that encourages drivers to make safer choices while behind the wheel to help end the streak of daily deaths. Nov. 7, 2000, was the last deathless day on Texas roadways.