The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office will be participating in this year’s national Click It or Ticket seat belt campaign, which will take place May 24 through June 6, 2021. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is asking all states to participate in Border-2-Border (B2B), a one-day, 4-hour national seat belt awareness event on May 24, which is coordinated by participating state highway safety offices and their respective law enforcement liaisons. The B2B initiative aims to increase law enforcement participation by coordinating highly visible seat belt enforcement for drivers at state border checkpoints.
According to NHTSA, in 2019, there were 9,466 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the United States. In that same year, 55% of passenger vehicle occupants killed at night (6 p.m.–5:59 a.m.) were not wearing their seat belts. That’s why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign and the B2B kickoff event is nighttime enforcement. Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations both day and night. In Jackson County, Florida the maximum penalty for a seat belt violation is $163.00.
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 this senseless inaction. Seat belts save lives, and everyone — front seat and back, child and adult — needs to remember to buckle up.
Sheriff Donnie Edenfield and his staff are committed to keeping our communities and our roadways safe and would like to remind everyone to buckle up, and to not drink and drive during this up-coming holiday weekend.
