State, Local Law Enforcement Participating in Annual Click It or Ticket

The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS), Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and GOHS Traffic Enforcement Networks are asking everyone to buckle their seat belts before every trip.

State troopers and local law enforcement in Georgia are participating in the national “Click It or Ticket” seat belt enforcement campaign that began Monday and runs through June 1.

Local and State law enforcement will be working to save lives by making sure all motor vehicle occupants are properly restrained, according to Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 58 percent of the 1,092 people killed in passenger vehicle crashes in Georgia in 2022 were not wearing seat belts, and the state’s annual daytime observed front-seat seat belt use rate has fallen below 90 percent for the last two years.

Poole added that in five years, Georgia’s daytime observed front-seat seat belt use rate has fallen to 87.6 percent in 2023 from 95.9 percent in 2019.

Georgia law requires all front-seat passengers to wear a seat belt and children between the ages of 8 and 17 to wear a seat belt no matter where they are riding in a vehicle.

But as of July 1, a new law will go into effect in Georgia that requires all adults and children over the age of 8 in either the front or back seat to wear a seatbelt.

And children under eight are required to ride in a child safety seat recommended by the manufacturer based on the child’s height and weight.