Law Enforcement Agencies Tout ‘Click It or Ticket’ Campaign in Wheeling

Local law enforcement agencies are teaming up with the West Virginia Northern Regional Highway Safety Program to remind local motorists to buckle up this summer. The national Border to Border Click It or Ticket seat belt campaign gets underway this weekend.

Northern Regional Highway Safety Program Coordinator Melissa Taylor spoke about the Border to Border initiative during a brief press conference at Wheeling's Heritage Port on Monday afternoon, along with several local law enforcement officials. Law enforcement agencies across the country participated in a four-hour national seat belt awareness event on area roadways Monday evening as part of the Border to Border program, which takes a "no-excuses" approach to seat belt enforcement.

"All across the state of West Virginia, officers will be out in force looking for violators," Taylor said. "Locally, we will have multiple West Virginia agencies teaming up with the Ohio State Highway Patrol and Pennsylvania State Police to participate in this mission."

"The Border to Border component of the Click It or Ticket campaign is important because it raises awareness about seat belt safety during a time when seat belt use is decreased," Taylor commented. "With an increased number of cars flooding the roads due to the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, it's imperative we get the word out about the importance of seat belt safety."

Taylor said anyone who knows a friend or a family member who does not buckle up when they drive, to please ask them to consider changing their habits.

"Help us spread this life-saving message before one more friend or family member is killed as a result of this senseless inaction," she added.

Lt. Maurice Waddell, Commander of Ohio State Highway Patrol's St. Clairsville post, said the Border to Border event is another example of how the highway patrol stresses the importance of safety belt usage through education and enforcement.

"Using a safety belt remains the single most effective thing that you can do to protect yourself in a crash," he said. "There's no disputing that wearing a safety belt can save your life or reduce injury. During this Border to Border enforcement effort, troopers from the St. Clairsville post and the Steubenville post will be patrolling (Ohio 7) looking for safety belt violations."

Wheeling Police Lt. Josh Sanders said enforcing highway safety continues to be paramount for the department.

"This is just one of those events where we can save lives," he said. "So buckle up. Our officers are going to be out. We will be looking for those folks who are not buckled in properly and other violations as well."

According to the Northern Regional Highway Safety Program, 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 that were killed at night were not wearing seat belts.