Crook County Sheriff’s Office, Prineville Police join in nationwide ‘Click It or Ticket’ seat belt enforcement effort

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Crook County Sheriff’s Office and the Prineville Police Department as well as agencies throughout Oregon are urging drivers to buckle up during the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s national Click It or Ticket high-visibility enforcement effort.

The national seat belt campaign, which coincides with the Memorial Day holiday, runs from May 20 to June 2.

Our goal is to see seat belt use to be an automatic habit for drivers and passengers alike. It’s not just a safe thing to do — it’s the law. Buckling up is the simplest thing you can do to limit injury or save your life during a crash. We see the results of not wearing a seat belt all the time. We see the loss of life. So often, it could have been prevented.

The national seat belt use rate in 2023 was 91.9%, which is good — but it can be better. The other 8.1% still need to be reminded that seat belts save lives. One of the focuses of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement. NHTSA data shows a higher number of unrestrained passenger vehicle occupant fatalities happen at night.

If the enforcement effort alerts people to the dangers of unrestrained driving, we’ll consider our mission to be a success. If you know a friend or a family member who does not buckle up when they drive, please ask them to consider changing their habits.

Help us spread this lifesaving message before one more friend or family member is killed as a result of not buckling up. Seat belts save lives, and everyone — front seat and back, child and adult — needs to remember to buckle up.

For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.