Click It or Ticket Campaign Aims to Decrease Risks of a Fatal Car Accident in Joplin, Neosho and Carthage and Elsewhere in Misso

This year's "Click It or Ticket" campaign will be backed by more than 200 law enforcement agencies in the state to help reduce the number of fatalities in car accidents in Joplin and elsewhere in Missouri. The campaign runs from the last week in May through the first week in June. Last year's results concluded that enforcement officers wrote more than 5,500 seat belt tickets, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. The Click It or Ticket campaign runs for the week across the country and is meant to increase seat belt use and reduce highway fatalities. The campaign pairs together high-visibility law enforcement and education.

"The best thing motorists can do to protect themselves while traveling in a motor vehicle is to buckle their seat belts and to make sure everyone else in the vehicle is buckled as well," said Colonel Ronald K. Replogle, superintendent of the Highway Patrol. "This type of campaign and enforcement effort is just one method used to heighten awareness about the importance of wearing a seat belt and saving lives. Highway Patrol troopers will continue to take a zero tolerance approach in the enforcement of seat belt and child restraint laws throughout the year in our effort to reduce injuries and save lives."

Our Springfield car accident attorneys would like to remind you that our state continues to remain below the national average for seat belt usage -- we comply only a mere 75 percent of the time. The national average complies 85 percent of the time.

Those among the least likely to strap on their seat belt are teens and pick-up drivers. Both parties are estimated to only buckle up approximately 65 percent of the time. The lack of seat belt usage contributed to seven out of ten fatalities that resulted from traffic accidents in Missouri in 2010.

"It's time we try some new things in our state to increase seat belt usage," said Leanna Depue, chair of the executive committee of the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety. "Saving lives is what it's all about, and seat belts are such an easy way to prevent tragedy, suffering, and grief associated with disabling or fatal traffic crashes"

Some of Missouri's new strategies to increase seat belt usage include displaying portable message boards. Law enforcement will also be partnering with high schools and large employers to get them to adopt new seat belt policies and to provide incentives to reinforce the importance of wearing a seat belt.

In Missouri, more than 180 law enforcement agencies participated in Click It or Ticket campaign efforts in 2010. These efforts resulted in 5,794 seat belt violations. They also handed out more than 200 child seat violations. The Click It or Ticket campaign also allowed law enforcement to issue more than 7,500 speeding violations, more than 200 DWI stops and more than 180 drug arrests. Throughout the entire 2010 campaign, law enforcement made a total of 27,072 stops and issued 22,395 citations.