Sean Snyder, Northern Regional Highway Safety Program coordinator, addresses the crowd at the Click it or Ticket seat belt campaign kick-off Monday at Wheeling Heritage Port. (Photo by Lauren Taylor)

WHEELING — The national “Click it or Ticket” seat belt campaign launched Monday at Heritage Port with local law enforcement teaming up with law enforcement nationwide for a kick-off event, hoping to keep drivers safe for the summer and cut down on the number of traffic-crash deaths nationwide.

In attendance were Sean Snyder, Northern Regional Highway Safety Program (NRHSP) coordinator, Lt. Josh Sanders with the Wheeling Police, trooper Rocco Gagliardi with the Pennsylvania State Police, Lt. Brian McFarland with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Lt. Robert Bodo with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and Jaci Brice, community traffic safety coordinator with the Highway Safety Network.

According to information provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 10,893 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants were killed in the U.S. in 2020.

Snyder says this campaign intends to remind drivers and passengers to buckle up, in hopes of lowering the number of fatalities on the road.

“We want to make sure we’re continuing these initiatives to make sure that, you know, our seat belt usage rate stays up and our fatality rate stays down,” he said.

The Border to Border initiative runs from May 22-June 4 and aims to increase law enforcement presence on the roads and coordinate seat belt enforcement checkpoints near state borders.

This past Friday, the Wheeling Police Department held a seat belt safety checkpoint on National Road in Elm Grove.

Sanders said the nationwide campaign directly aligns with Wheeling Police’s efforts and goals.

“One of our top priorities is highway safety,” he said. “We want to reduce crashes, reduce injuries, save lives, all those kinds of things, so if we can do an enforcement effort and educate the public on the simple task of putting your seatbelt on, we’re going to be all the better.”

Wheeling Police have not reported any seat belt-related automobile accident fatalities this year.

Sanders says wearing your seat belt is the easiest way to keep this number at zero.

“We want to keep our roadways safe and wearing your seat belt is one of the easiest ways to do that,” he said. “It takes one second to buckle your seat belt and keep you and your family safe in your car.”

Snyder says many fatalities stem from misconceptions regarding seat belt safety.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there about different things, and, for whatever reason, people don’t think that wearing seat belts is important,” he said.

Popular seatbelt myths can include misconceptions regarding vehicle types and seating positions.

According to campaign information, larger vehicles like pickup trucks are no better at protecting an unbuckled occupant than smaller vehicles.

“61% of pickup truck occupants who were killed in 2021 were not buckled,” NRHSP reported in a press release. “That’s compared to 47% of passenger car occupants who were not wearing seat belts when they were killed.”

Additionally, campaign information debunks the myth that passengers are safe unrestrained in the back seat of a car.

Snyder says he hopes the campaign acts as a way to answer questions and encourage drivers and passengers to “click it.”

“This is as much about education as it is punitive action,” he said. “It’s really about spreading the word and the importance of wearing your seat belt.”