Georgia drivers better buckle up.

This week marks the start of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety’s “100 Days of Summer HEAT” and the state’s annual “Click It or Ticket” campaign.

Between now and June 4, you’ll see more officers on the road looking out for seat belt violations.

Officers statewide will be enforcing Georgia’s seat belt and child passenger safety laws with the goal of saving lives.

According to the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS), you only have a 50% chance of surviving a car crash if you aren’t wearing a seat belt.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 1,786 people died in traffic crashes in Georgia last year.

According to NHTSA, 56 percent of the persons killed in passenger vehicle crashes in Georgia in 2021 were not wearing seat belts and the number of unbelted persons killed in passenger vehicle crashes in Georgia has increased by 20 percent over a five-year period from 2017 to 2021.

“Mistakes happen on the road every day and the goal is for everyone to be able to be able to walk away when a mistake behind the wheel leads to a crash,” GOHS Director Allen Poole said. “Seat belts offer the best protection to anyone riding in a vehicle in the event of a crash and taking a few seconds to buckle a seat belt before every trip could one day save your life or the life of a family member or friend.”

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