May 2006 "Click It or Ticket" Seat Belt Mobilization Evaluation: Final Report

"Click It or Ticket" (CIOT) mobilizations are intense, short-duration, seat belt publicity and enforcement programs. The 2006 national mobilization involved approximately $27 million of purchased media. Law enforcement agencies across the nation reported issuing more than 697,000 seat belt use citations during the annual two-week enforcement period beginning on May 22 and ending on June 4. June 2006 observations, as compared with June 2005, indicated increased seat belt use among front-seat occupants of passenger vehicles in 37 of 50 States and Territories where belt use was known. The number of States reporting increases in statewide seat belt use and the amount of increase has been shrinking each succeeding year since national mobilizations began in 2002. The amount of paid publicity in 2006 was less compared to previous years 2002 through 2005; the number of seat belt citations issued by law enforcement agencies decreased in 2006. The National Occupant Protection Usage Survey indicated the nationwide seat belt use rate did not improve between 2005 and 2006. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) demonstration programs reported on in this paper identify some of the ways NHTSA along with a number of States are searching for productive modifications to the typical CIOT process.