As part of the nationwide ‘Click It or Ticket’ campaign, the Virginia State Police is going to start monitoring the number of drivers and passengers on the road who are not wearing their seatbelts.
According to Virginia State Police, from January to March in 2022 in southwest Virginia there have been 24 fatalities from crashes and 50% of the victims were not wearing a seatbelt.
Throughout the duration of this campaign, police will be doing seatbelt surveys and enforcement. There will be a pre seatbelt survey and a post-survey to see if the campaign makes a difference.
Drivers will see troopers sitting on the side of the road observing cars as they travel by and they will check off if those passengers are wearing a seatbelt. State Police will be doing the first survey until May 23, when the enforcement part of the campaign begins.
“Seatbelts do make a difference and of course it is a secondary offense,” said Sgt. Rick Garletts with Virginia State Police. “We are not going to pull you over for not wearing a seatbelt. You are going to have another speeding offense or something that will initiate the stop and then if you are not wearing your seatbelt, then you can also be ticketed.”
Enforcement ends on June 5 and after that, police will do a post-survey. In order to see if the campaign worked, they will compare the number from both surveys.
The goal is to encourage safe driving as Summer starts to approach and more people hit the roads.
‘Click It or Ticket’ is a federal campaign and is required of police agencies across the country.