'Click It or Ticket' to begin Monday

Failure to buckle up by drivers and passengers allows law enforcement officers to conduct a traffic stop and issue tickets for the infraction.

Florida law requires that all front seat occupants must utilize safety restraints. All children between the ages of four and 17 must be secured in a safety restraint. Children from birth to age three, must be secured in a child restraint seat.

All children ages four and five, must be in a child safety seat, booster seat of safety belt. Children ages six through 17 must be buckled in the front or backseat and adults 18 and over must be buckled in when driving or riding in the front seat. NAS Jax upholds a "zero tolerance" policy for failure to use seatbelts.

Although all military installations including NAS Jacksonville, enforce the seatbelt law every day, during the campaign, patrolmen here will man high traffic areas and specifically target people who are not buckled up.

During every "Click It or Ticket'' Campaign, which is held bi-annually each May and November, the Naval Safety Center partners with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics and AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, motor vehicle crashes are the single largest cause of unintentional injury for ages one through 65, accounting for about 42,643 deaths annually.

"This campaign is conducted to encourage the use of safety restraints for all adults and children when riding in a motor vehicle. It's an enforcement campaign to heighten awareness of the importance of wearing a seatbelt. Seatbelts save lives and hopefully we can save someone by reminding them to buckle up,'' remarked NAS Jax Security Patrollman Nick Jourdain.

The use of seatbelts not only saves lives, but also can help prevent serious injuries. "We do safety checks on the base periodically. On an average we usually confirm five to six percent of our base personnel are not wearing their seatbelts,'' said NAS Jax Safety Officer Ron Williamson.

"As of May 1, we've had 82 motor vehicle accidents on base. At this rate we're projecting about 196 accidents this year, which is slightly lower than average. We've also had five people injured and are predicting 12 motorists will sustain injuries in accidents this year.''

If this isn't reason enough to buckle up, you might be interested to learn that if you are issued a ticket on base it's four points on your base driving record. Anyone receiving six points

in a one-year period is required to attend an eight-hour driving improvement course. Those who earn 12 points in one year or 18 points in two years will be suspended from driving on base for 30 days.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, tickets for not wearing a seatbelt can be costly. In Duval and Clay Counties, a ticket will cost you $74.50 and $118.50 for violating child restraint laws.

The ''Click It or Ticket'' mobilization effort involves four stages: a media campaign, to inform people of the upcoming campaign and increased law-enforcement efforts; an observation period, where violators are counted but not ticketed; an enforcement period, where all violators are ticketed; and a final review period, where motorists are observed to ensure the effort has been successful.

Remember, buckling up is not a personal decision, it's the law!'Click It or Ticket' to begin Monday