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Ticket Window: West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program announces seat belt effort

(Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program is coordinating a statewide Click It or Ticket high-visibility enforcement mobilization that runs from today through Sunday, March 25.

Wearing a seat belt is required by law. Law enforcement officers across the state will be out in full force, ticketing violators who are caught traveling without a correctly buckled seat belt or transporting improperly restrained children, according to a press release from the program.

“The reality is: Seat belts save lives,” Governor’s Highway Safety Program Director Jack McNeely said. “Click It or Ticket isn’t about citations; it’s about saving lives. Not buckling up is not worth the risk.”

The mobilization is part of the program’s year-long effort to increase seat belt usage in the Mountain State and a statewide ramp-up ahead of the annual national Click It or Ticket mobilization in May.

In 2022, 49% of all passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in West Virginia were unrestrained, according to a press release from the program.

“Our seat belt usage decreased to 91.9% in 2024, from 93% in 2023,” McNeely said. “While we are displeased with this decrease, we will keep working until every person in every vehicle is correctly buckled up. A seat belt is your best protection against death or injury should you be in a vehicle crash.”

People who live in rural areas might believe that their crash exposure is lower, the release said, but in 2022, 66% of total vehicle fatalities in West Virginia occurred in rural locations, compared to 34% in urban locations.

The purpose of the West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program is to encourage, promote and support highway safety across the state through the implementation of federally mandated and funded highway safety improvement measures, the release said. More information about the program is available online at highwaysafety.wv.gov or by calling 304-926-2509.

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