More Texans Are Buckling Up and Driving Sober

AUSTIN, Texas--Sept. 13, 2005--The Texas Department of Transportation says campaigns to get motorists to buckle up and avoid drinking and driving are paying off. State and federal officials have announced that a record number of Texans are now using safety belts. Alcohol-related traffic fatalities also are down for the second straight year.

The good news came as TxDOT officials and law officers across Texas gathered in Austin for a statewide traffic safety summit.

Click It or Ticket and Drink, Drive, Go to Jail initiatives launched four years ago are credited with the changes in driver behavior that officials say will save hundreds of lives and prevent thousands of injuries each year.

"We know campaigns that combine extensive advertising with stepped up law enforcement get positive results," said Carlos Lopez, TxDOT's director of traffic operations. "Thanks to Click It or Ticket, our safety belt compliance rate has gone from 76 percent in 2001 to almost 90 percent today. We expect the net effect will be 185 fewer traffic fatalities and 3,000 fewer injuries every year."

At 89.9 percent, safety belt use in Texas is at an all-time high since state laws were passed 20 years ago requiring drivers and passengers to buckle up.

State officials also cited findings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showing traffic deaths in Texas caused by impaired drivers have dropped by 13 percent in the past two years. Federal officials report that 130 fewer people died in Texas last year in alcohol-related crashes than in 2003.

"These encouraging results could not have occurred without the contributions that law enforcement partners throughout Texas have made to traffic safety," said Lopez. "When we say Drink, Drive, Go to Jail, officers are there to back us up."

Thanks to more motorists using safety belts and fewer drunk drivers on the road, Texas posted the largest reduction in the United States in the number of traffic fatalities in 2004. Though 238 fewer people were killed in traffic crashes in Texas last year, the Lone Star State continues to lead the nation in annual traffic deaths.

That's why TxDOT officials say motorists can expect to see a steady stream of reminders to buckle up and drive sober. In fact, a yearlong campaign is getting underway throughout Texas this month to find and arrest drunk drivers.