‘Click It or Ticket’ gets reader’s praise
By Don Gammill
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2
Published: November 2, 2009
Give credit where credit is due.
The "Click It or Ticket” idea has to be one of the best programs the Oklahoma Highway Patrol ever came up with to get people to use their seat belts. It has saved thousands of lives. The ads I’ve seen really get your attention. Do we know who came up with that slogan and that program? Frances Sorry, Frances, but it wasn’t anybody in Oklahoma. In 1984, New York became the first state to enact a mandatory seat belt use law, and 37 other states had done so by 1990. The majority of these laws were "secondary safety belt laws,” meaning that an officer had to observe another traffic violation before issuing a citation for a seat belt infraction. North Carolina, how-ever, was the first United States jurisdiction to originate a statewide program combining concentrated enforcement with massive publicity to increase seat belt use, called "Click It or Ticket.” After a successful pilot program in three communities, the statewide North Carolina program was launched in October 1993. There was immediate response and, in two years, seat belt use went up about 20 percent. In May 2008, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico took part in the mobilization, with 44 states and D.C. using the "Click It or Ticket” message. Puerto Rico used the closely equivalent Spanish message "Si No Te Amarras, Pagas.” By the way ... Opposition is primarily based on the belief that requiring people to wear a seat belt is a violation of civil rights. For example, Dr. Walter E. Williams of George Mason University wrote: "The point is whether government has a right to coerce us into taking care of ourselves. If eating what we wish is our business and not that of government, then why should we accept government’s coercing us to wear seat belts?” There even have been Internet-based groups founded to advocate this line of thinking. But a survey conducted by Public Opinion Strategies found that 83 percent of U.S. citizens surveyed had seen, read, or heard about the Click It or Ticket campaign and 81 percent of the public supports the effort. Study after study has found that wearing seat belts saves lives. Enjoy your week and drive safely.
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Lots of people die from tripping in the bath tub and hitting their heads. With the same logic, we should have to wear helmets while showering. Just seems like a slippery slope.
Law or not, you won't find me in a car without a seat belt.