'Click It or Ticket' Nets 7,422 Occupant Protection Charges in Second Week; Durham Mom to Talk Friday About Crash That Killed Her Unrestrained Daughter

RALEIGH, N.C., May 30 -- Law enforcement officers ticketed more than 7,400 drivers and passengers for failure to use seat belts and/or child safety seats during the second week of the spring "Click It or Ticket" campaign. From May 21-27, officers statewide conducted 1,908 law enforcement activities in support of North Carolina's seat belt and child passenger safety campaign, which was launched with a statewide kickoff event on May 14 in Raleigh. The North Carolina numbers were reported by law enforcement agencies in each county and compiled by the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. During the second week of the campaign, officers wrote 6,784 seat belt tickets and 638 child passenger safety violations. For the second consecutive week, Wake County reported the greatest number of occupant protection citations, with 918 seat belt and 41 child passenger safety tickets. Besides cracking down on seat belt and child passenger safety violators, officers across the state last week charged 899 motorists with driving while impaired (DWI). They discovered a total of 28,775 violations, including 298 drug charges, 24 stolen vehicles, and seven fugitive from justice. The campaign continues through June 3. Barbara Crocker, who was driving when her 9-year-old daughter died in a crash, will share her story during a "Click It or Ticket" event at 10:30 a.m. Friday, June 1, at the Forest Hills Park Clubhouse in Durham. "There are numerous things I could have, and should have, done differently," said the Durham mother, who fell asleep and crashed into a stand of trees while driving all night to help a friend in need. "I should never have tried to drive when I was so tired, and I should never have allowed Jessi to ride unbuckled." A checkpoint and clinic will run from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the intersection of University Drive and Forest Hills Blvd. Other speakers will include Deputy Transportation Secretary Manny Marbet and Governor's Highway Safety Program Acting Director Don Nail. Last week, seven additional southeastern states joined the mission to get more motorists buckled up by adopting North Carolina's high visibility enforcement and public education model. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee all have reported high participation among law enforcement agencies, and an increase in occupant protection and other traffic and criminal violations. The goal of "Click It or Ticket" is to boost seat belt use in North Carolina, saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing the massive health- care costs associated with traffic crashes. In addition to ticketing unbuckled drivers, officers are paying particular attention to unrestrained children. All children up to age 16 must be buckled up no matter where they ride in the vehicle. Children under age 5 and weighing less than 40 pounds must ride in a child passenger safety seat -- in the back seat, if the vehicle has an active passenger-side airbag. Drivers who fail to adhere to this law will face two points on his or her driver's license.

Statewide Totals

DWI Occupant Restraint Traffic Violations Driving Child While Passenger Total Impaired Seat Belt Safety Checkpoints Violations Violations Violations Speeding and Patrols

1,449 911 7,454 586 7,655 (May 14-20)

1,908 899 6,784 638 7,738 (May 21-27)

Traffic Violations Criminal Violations

Total Misdemeanor Felony Stolen Traffic Drug Drug Firearm Vehicles Violations Violations Violations Violations Recovered

27,281 237 56 22 26

27,957 244 54 14 24

Criminal Violations

Other Total Criminal Total Traffic & Fugitives Violations Criminal Criminal Arrested Not Listed Violations Violations

8 519 868 28,149 7 506 818 28,775

SOURCE Governor's Highway Safety Program Web Site: http://www.dot.state.nc.us/services/ghsp