Contact: Jonathan Adkins
202 789-0942

Statement for Attribution to Kathryn Swanson, Chair of the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA)

GHSA members are planning an intensive "Click it or Ticket" seat belt enforcement campaign May 24-June 6. This program, which includes intensive enforcement of seat belt laws accompanied by paid media emphasizing the enforcement message, is funded by grants from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

GHSA strongly supports this effort since it has been proven to be an effective method for increasing seat belt usage. Last year, the nation achieved a record 79 percent seat belt use rate largely because of this approach. While this achievement is a significant accomplishment, more must be done. NHTSA estimates that each additional percentage point increase in seat belt usage will result in 280 lives being saved. The recently-released preliminary estimate of 2003 highway fatalities offers further evidence of the need for increased seat belt usage: 58 percent of those people killed in passenger vehicles were not belted.

While "Click it or Ticket" campaigns are effective at increasing seat belt usage, they are only part of the solution. States need to enact primary seat belt laws, which allow police to issue a citation any time they observe an unbelted motorist. Currently, only 20 states and the District of Columbia have passed this life-saving measure. Generally, upon passage of this law, states see an increase in their seat belt usage rate varying from 10-15 percent points. Every state urgently needs this law.

In addition to the upcoming seat belt mobilization, states in the southeast region of the country are planning a crackdown on excessive speeding by drivers. Known as the "Summer H.E.A.T. (Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic)" campaign, this 100 day effort will center on enforcement of speed limit laws while also targeting seat belt laws, drunk driving laws and other forms of aggressive driving.

Never before has a broad campaign of this effort and length focused primarily on speeding. According to state data and a study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, speeding is a problem that has become significantly more serious since Congress repealed the National Maximum Speed Limit in 1995.

GHSA believes this innovative approach to speed enforcement will have positive results. The southeastern states were also the first states to perfect the "Click it or Ticket" model, which subsequently went nationwide. If the "H.E.A.T" campaign is successful, it could also have national implications. GHSA is concerned that speeding is not receiving the attention or funding it warrants and believes that this effort in the southeast will lead to an increased national focus on the issue.

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The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) is a nonprofit association representing the highway safety offices of states, territories, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Indian Nation. Its members are appointed by their Governors to administer federal and state highway safety funds and implement state highway safety plans. Contact GHSA at (202) 789-0942 for more information.