Comment: Dear Sirs,

I am concerned that the Connecticut's 'Click It Or Ticket'; safety
belt campaign will be of suboptimal effectiveness. While traffic safety is
certainly a legitimate goal of our government, and encouraging motorists to
wear safety belts is a reasonable and proper component thereof, the current
effort to convince or compel safety belt usage is unlikely to have the
desired effect.

The 'Click It'; campaign, at least in its present manifestation,
operates on fear of the state's authority, an incentive to which the
citizenry will probably not respond well. The Department of Transportation
is telling motorists to 'buckle up' singularly because the state will do
violence to them should they fail to do so.

It seems unlikely that a person who consistently fails to use a safety belt
will be convinced to do so by the state's threat of financial harm. The
current message may in fact prove worse than useless if it encourages some
to continue reckless behavior merely out of a sense of defiance of what they
perceive to be intrusive state meddling in their personal affairs.

It is this citizen's opinion that a more thoughtful effort would turn on the
immediate safety considerations pertinent to the use of safety belts, or
more precisely, the failure to use them. An informative campaign apprising
the reckless motorist of the unnecessary risks to his life may be more
effective. Perhaps a message along the lines of, 'Buckle Up If You Like
Being Alive'; or some such appeal to motorists' survival instincts
would carry more weight with them. Perhaps a graphic depiction of the
corporeal consequences of flying through windshields and being wrapped
around trees would help compel a behavioral change.

Your comments regarding the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration's (NHTSA's) "Click It or Ticket" campaign have been
referred to me. I appreciate your interest in the campaign and your
thoughtful comments on change in focus of the campaign from
enforcement to safety.



NHTSA has been involved in promoting safety belt use since belts were
first installed in motor vehicles. In the early 1980's, the approach
was education on the safety aspects of safety belts. Remember Vince &
Larry, the crash test dummies? Safety belt use was 14 percent. In
the mid-1980's, States began to introduce legislation requiring safety
belt use, and use rates began to rise rapidly, because motorists did
not want to be ticketed. In fact, rates increased to from 37 percent
(1986) to 68 percent (1996), and then began to level off.



Several States began to mobilize their law enforcement agencies to
focus enforcement on safety belt laws during time periods when
fatalities were high, and they let the motoring public know that they
would be increasing enforcement. When that happened, safety belt use
rates began to increase again. NHTSA evaluated successful State
programs and found that, when the motoring public were informed of the
increased enforcement, they were more likely to wear safety belts than
when informed of the safety aspects of the devices. It became obvious
to NHTSA that, when enforcement increased and motorists were informed
of that, they buckled up in greater numbers than through just
educational messages alone. Today's use rate is 82 percent
nationally.



The "Click It or Ticket" campaign is not a year-round campaign or
message. The national mobilization takes place once a year—just
before the summer vacation season. The rest of the year, NHTSA
promotes the message "Buckle Up America. Every Trip. Every Time."
This message relates to the safety reasons for buckling up, in terms
fatalities and injuries, and the impact they have on loved ones. The
"Click It or Ticket" law enforcement mobilization is for those who
have not heard the "Buckle Up America" message. And, as evidenced in
the data, it does work.



Again, I appreciate your comments about the campaign. And, more
importantly, I hope that you and your loved ones buckle up – every
trip, every time. I saw a spot on the news earlier this week in which
an SUV driver was 'clipped' by a car and rolled over about 10 times
before coming to a stop in a ditch. The driver broke her thumb and
several ribs. Had she not had on her safety belt, I believe the
result would have been far different.



Stay safe,



Robin Mayer

Chief, Office of Consumer Information

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration