As summer kicks off and travel increases, The Elmhurst Police Department is partnering with the Illinois Department of Transportation to remind motorists to Click It or Ticket. Click It or Ticket is a program to enforce seatbelt and car-seat use to keep all motorists safe.  The program is funded by a one-year grant from IDOT with a goal of saving lives by reducing fatal and serious injury car crashes through additional enforcement of DUI, seatbelt, and distracting driving laws.

“Law enforcement personnel see firsthand the loss of life when people refuse to buckle up,” says Commander Jim Gandy. “It’s such a simple thing, and it should be an automatic response when you get into a vehicle. As the Memorial Day weekend approaches and the summer vacation season picks up, we want to make sure residents are doing everything they can to stay safe in the unfortunate event of a crash.”

The most recent crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that 43% of occupants killed in passenger vehicle crashes in 2015 were unrestrained. Because that percentage increased to 57% in crashes occurring during overnight hours between 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m., the Click It or Ticket campaign is focused on overnight enforcement. Motorists who are not buckled up will be ticketed, and those caught driving impaired will be arrested.

“Please help us spread this life-saving message before one more friend or family member is killed as a result of this senseless inaction,” says Commander Gandy. Seatbelts save lives, and every vehicle occupant—adult or child, front seat or back—needs to remember to buckle up, every trip, every time.”  Together, we can make zero fatalities a reality in Illinois.