FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2001
CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8755

COLUMBIA – The South Carolina Department of Public Safety today joined local law enforcement statewide and seven other Southeastern states for the kickoff of the enforcement portion of Click It or Ticket. Law enforcement will be out in force from today until June 3 during what is typically one of the heaviest travel seasons of the year.

Click It or Ticket has proven successful in saving lives and getting people buckled up. During last year’s Thanksgiving Click It or Ticket campaign, the fatality rate fell by 30 percent from the same time in 1999 and seat belt usage rose by nine percentage points. So far this year, there have been 51 fewer fatalities than last year at this time. Ten people died on South Carolina’s highways during last year’s Memorial Day holiday weekend.

"We can’t stress enough the importance of driving safely and obeying all traffic laws during this heavily traveled holiday period," said DPS Director, B. Boykin Rose. "The Highway Patrol and State Transport Police will be out all over the state assisting motorists and strictly enforcing all laws to make sure people get to their destinations alive and unharmed."

Click It or Ticket coincides with Operation ABC Mobilization: America Buckles Up Children – the largest ever nationwide crackdown on drivers who don’t buckle up and don’t buckle up children. From now through Memorial Day, more than 10,000 law enforcement agencies from coast to coast will blanket roadways intensifying enforcement of seat belt and child restraint laws.

The Click It or Ticket campaign’s goal is to educate the public about the importance of buckling up and buckling up children. Television and radio public service announcements began running last week alerting people that Click It or Ticket would be starting this week and announcing the location of checkpoints. A number of border events are scheduled with North Carolina and Georgia to demonstrate the region-wide effort.

Another major component of the two-week campaign is the emphasis on child restraint usage. DPS will host child safety seat checks at South Carolina Welcome Centers, encouraging travelling parents to take a few minutes to allow technicians to check their car seats to make sure they are properly restraining child passengers. The checks are free and open to the public.

The locations of the safety seat checks as well as daily enforcement results will be posted on the DPS web site at www.scdps.org.

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SI/72/01

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