During this year’s national Click It or Ticket seat belt campaign, which will take place from Monday, May 24 through Sunday, June 6, the Sandersville Police Department will be teaming up with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) for a Border to Border (B2B) kickoff event. The NHTSA is asking all states to participate in B2B, a seat belt awareness event, which is coordinated by participating state highway safety offices and their respective law enforcement liaisons. The B2B initiative aims to increase law enforcement participation by coordinating highly visible seat belt enforcement for drivers at state border checkpoints.
According to the Georgia Department of Public Safety, during the 78-hour 2020 Memorial Day Holiday period, 13 fatal traffic crashes resulted in 15 deaths. Statewide, 317 traffic crashes resulted in 188 injuries. That is why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign and the B2B kickoff event is nighttime enforcement. Sandersville Police will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations both day and night. In Georgia, the maximum penalty for a seat belt violation when a child is under the age of 8 is $50 and 1 point on a driving record for a 1st conviction. The 2nd and subsequent convictions are $100 and 2 points on a driving record. For individuals aged 8 – 17, the conviction costs $25. Individuals over 18 years of age will pay $15.
“The Border-to-Border component of the Click It or Ticket campaign is important because it raises awareness about seat belt safety during a time when seat belt use is decreased,” said Captain Kelly Collins of the Sandersville Police Department. “We aren’t handing out tickets for the thrill of it. If our enforcement wakes people up to the dangers of unrestrained driving, we’ll consider our mission to be a success.”