Remember To Click It or Ticket This Weekend

(Undated) — Law enforcement agencies statewide are participating in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s high-visibility “Click It or Ticket” campaign. Forty years ago Illinois became the third state to mandate seat belt usage, requiring drivers and front-seat passengers 8 and older to wear seat belts. Those younger than 8 have to be secured in appropriate car seats. According to IDOT, in 2024, the Illinois seat belt usage rate was 92.4% compared to a 15.2% usage rate in 1985. The estimated lives saved by seat belts in Illinois since 1985 is 20,823. The “Click It or Ticket” campaign comes in advance of the “100 Deadliest Days of summer,” which historically marks an increase in fatalities between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Last year’s Memorial Day weekend, the period from 6 p.m. Friday to 11:59 p.m. Monday, saw 18 crashes resulting in 19 deaths in Illinois.