Seatbelts

To save more lives on Indiana roads, the Governor's Council on Impaired & Dangerous Driving, a division of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, is implementing the "Click It or Ticket" safety belt campaign.

"Click It or Ticket" uses high visibility enforcement, aggressive public information and education and intense media coverage to send the message to motorists that if they do not comply with Indiana's safety belt and child restraint laws, they will receive a ticket.

The Click It or Ticket campaign depends heavily on educational media messages to create public awareness that safety belts save lives and to let people know they are more likely to receive a ticket if they or their children are not buckled up properly. Research has shown, however, that media messages alone are not enough - behavior change increases when media messages are followed by highly visible efforts to enforce the law.

Consequently, Indiana's Click It or Ticket campaign is comprised of a five-week Earned Media period which consists of news stories generated by media interest in the campaign; a three-week Paid Media period during which safety belt messages are presented in a variety of ways (television, radio, billboards, print ads, etc.); and a two-week period of Increased Enforcement during which safety belt enforcement zones will be set-up by law enforcement agencies in all areas of the state. Educational media messages and increased enforcement of Indiana's safety belt and child restraint laws will occur throughout Indiana.

Occupants of pickup trucks consistently have lower safety belt use rates than occupants of automobiles, vans and Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs). According to the 2003 National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), the observed safety belt use rate among occupants of pickup trucks increased from 59 percent in 1998 to 69 percent in 2003. Despite this increase, the rate remains far below the overall national safety belt use rate of 79 percent for all vehicles.

According to a survey conducted in Indiana after the 2004 Click It or Ticket campaign, the safety belt usage rate for occupants (driver and front-seat outboard passenger) of pickup trucks increased from 48.7 percent to 55.8 percent, but still lags far behind the usage rates of occupants in all other types of vehicles that are included in Indiana's primary safety belt law. Pickup truck occupants observed on rural local roadways had the lowest usage rates at 39.6 percent. Given their lower safety belt usage, pickup truck occupants are at a high risk for serious injury or death.

In an effort to increase safety belt usage on the rural roadways of Indiana, the Governor's Council on Impaired & Dangerous Driving is conducting an intensive two week "Click It or Ticket" campaign targeting rural areas in southern Indiana. This campaign, which includes paid and earned media as well as increased enforcement, runs May 2nd - 15th. This is part of the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration's Rural Demonstration Project designed to raise awareness of the Click It or Ticket Mobilizations and the special risks associated with traveling on rural roadways.

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