GSP Joins Click It or Ticket Enforcement Effort

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2003

(ATLANTA)-The Georgia State Patrol will join other law enforcement agencies across the country in a unified effort to increase seat belt use among occupants of motor vehicles. The two-week campaign of Operation Click It or Ticket begins Monday, May 19. During the enforcement period, state troopers, sheriffs deputies and police officers will concentrate on seat belt and child restraint violations in an effort to increase the usage rates and save lives.

Georgia State Patrol Commander Colonel George Ellis said troopers will be conducting concentrated patrols and roadchecks during the two-week period to encourage seat belt use. "Additionally, troopers will be teaming with local officers and deputies for the high visibility enforcement effort," Colonel Ellis said. "Past experience has shown that the high visibility of law enforcement officers increases seat belt use and that translates to lives saved."

State troopers will also be paying close attention to adults who allow children to ride unrestrained. "Despite the best education efforts that have been put forth, troopers continue to see children riding unrestrained in motor vehicles throughout the state," Colonel Ellis noted. "Troopers will not hesitate to stop the vehicle and issue the driver a ticket. Children do not know they are at risk in a motor vehicle and adults must take extra care to make sure they are properly restrained."

Operation Click It or Ticket is sponsored nationally by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and locally by the Governors Office of Highway Safety. The Georgia State Patrol has participated in each of the Click It or Ticket campaigns since its inception in 1999. The seat belt enforcement effort began in 1997 with Operation Strap N Snap when seat belt use was only 62 percent. Through the enforcement efforts, seat belt use has risen to almost 80 percent statewide.

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