OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Belle Chasse, LA - In coordination with the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission (LHSC), the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office (PPSO) is reminding drivers about the lifesaving benefits of wearing a seat belt this spring, during the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) national Click It or Ticket high-visibility enforcement effort. The national seat belt campaign, which coincides with the Memorial Day holiday, runs from May 23 to June 5, 2022.

According to NHTSA, in 2020, there were 10,893 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the United States. In that same year, 58% of passenger vehicle occupants killed at night (6 p.m.-5:59 a.m.) were not wearing their seat belts. That's why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement. More than twice as many males were killed in crashes as compared to females, with lower belt use rates, too. Of the males killed in crashes in 2020, more than half (55%) were unrestrained. For females killed in crashes, 43% were not buckled up.

"We want the act of buckling up to become automatic to all drivers and passengers," said Sheriff Jerry Turlich. "If you know a friend or a family member who does not buckle up when they drive, please ask them to consider changing their habits. Help us spread this lifesaving message before one more friend or family member is killed as a result of this senseless inaction."

For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit NHTSA.gov/ciot or www.lahighwaysafety.org/Pages/OurPrograms/OccupantProtection.aspx.

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Contact Information:
Lieutenant Chaun J. Domingue
Public Information Officer
Office: 504-934-6785
cdomingue@ppso.net