National "Click It or Ticket" Campaign Kickoff

AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today as we officially kick off this year’s Click It or Ticket national seat belt safety campaign. 

We stand here at the beginning of another summer travel season with a clear and urgent mission. This high-visibility enforcement effort isn’t just about writing tickets; it is about a relentless reminder of the thin line between a close call and a tragedy. To put it simply: Seat belts save lives. 

Looking back over the last fifty years, the profound safety impact of the seat belt is nothing short of staggering. Seat belts have saved nearly 500,000 lives and prevented millions of non-fatal injuries—that is half a million individuals who were granted a second chance at life all because of a simple click. Buckling up is the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself in a crash…period. 

However, we cannot ignore the sobering reality that, year after year, nearly 50% of passenger vehicle occupant fatalities involve people who were not wearing a seat belt. At nighttime, the fatalities are worse with 56% of nighttime fatalities not buckled. While many point to the reported 91% national usage rate, we must be honest about what that figure represents: it reflects daytime use, focuses only on people in the front seat, and is measured immediately following our Click It or Ticket campaign. In many regions, particularly across the South, those numbers are far grimmer, and back-seat usage nationwide can plummet to as low as 60%. 

The science of crash safety is unambiguous: a vehicle’s internal protection systems are designed as a total package, requiring every person inside to be positioned correctly and restrained securely to function effectively. Choosing to buckle up is, quite simply, the most powerful step you can take to survive a collision and prevent life-altering injuries. At the Department of Transportation and NHTSA, we are dedicated to using every resource and platform we have to push that fatality count toward zero. 

Our data identifies specific areas of greatest risk: 

Among young adults aged 18 to 34 who were killed in passenger vehicles in 2024, a staggering 59% were unrestrained. This is one of the highest percentages of any age group. It is exactly why our national media campaign—featuring new ads like “Reflecting” and “Pulled Over”—is laser-focused on reaching young men. 

There is a persistent misconception that larger vehicles like pickup trucks are inherently safe enough to make seat belts optional. The data proves otherwise: 59% of pickup occupants killed in 2024 were unbuckled, compared to 47% in passenger cars.  

While the total number of fatalities in urban and rural areas is nearly equal, the rate of unbelted deaths is significantly higher in our rural communities.  

To tackle these disparities, NHTSA recently launched the "Rural High Five" Program, a data-driven roadmap specifically designed to boost belt usage in the American heartland. We are supporting these efforts with increased funding for nighttime enforcement—when usage rates are at their lowest—and by advocating for stronger state laws to ensure everyone stays protected. 

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend in a few weeks, we encourage everyone to pause and honor the service members who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. The best way we can honor the gift of life is by protecting it. 

Our national media campaign and high-visibility enforcement begins May 11. We urge every rider to buckle up—every trip, every time, day and night.