RALEIGH, N.C. — Fasten your seatbelt or you could get a ticket. It's as simple as that.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation launched its Click It or Ticket campaign on Monday ahead of the busy Memorial Day holiday. The campaign runs through June 6.
The State Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies will have checkpoints all around the state, making sure drivers and passengers are buckled up safely.
If you aren't properly buckled, you could be fined up to $180 under state law. If a child under 16 isn't properly secured, the driver faces a $266 fine.
But it's not just about avoiding the fine. It could be a matter of life and death if you're in a crash.
More than 500 people who weren't wearing seat belts or buckled into car seats died in crashes on North Carolina roads last year, according to NCDOT.
“Seat belts and child safety seats save lives,” said Eric Boyette, secretary of the N.C. Department of Transportation. “We know that not wearing a seat belt can be the worst decision you’ll ever make.”
Despite that, NCDOT said fewer people are wearing seatbelts. In 2018, 91.3% of those surveyed were wearing a seatbelt. In 2020, that number dropped to 87.1%. The details about the seat belt survey can be found in the 2020 report.
“We have seen significant drops in our seat belt usage rate all across the state, so we have a lot of work to do to get the participation rate back up again,” said Mark Ezzell, director of the N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP). “We are ramping up those education efforts now.”
The state will survey seat belt usage again in June.
When North Carolina launched the Click It or Ticket initiative in 1993, only 64 percent of North Carolinians used their seat belts.