Click It or Ticket: How Often Do You Buckle Up?

Santa Barbara – How often do you buckle up? Always, sometimes or never.The statewide “Click It or Ticket” enforcement campaign is now in full swing. Drivers and passengers caught not wearing seat belts can expect to receive a ticket, not a warning.Share your comments about this story with us on the KEY News Facebook page.From now until June 3rd, the California Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies will have a zero tolerance approach when it comes to enforcing seat belt laws.Police officers, sheriff’s deputies and CHP officers will all be on the lookout both day and night. Nighttime passenger vehicle occupants are among those least likely to buckle up and most likely to die in crashes when unrestrained.The cost of a seat belt ticket is at least $159 for a first offense. The cost of failing to properly buckle up any child younger than 16 years old is at least $479 per child for a first offense.Although, California boasts one of the highest seat belt use rates in the nation at 96.6%. Also, when it comes to injury prevention California and New York lead the way. According to a new report by the Trust for America’s Health, California scored a nine out of ten on a list of injury prevention policies. Those include seat belt use, bike helmets and drunk driving. The report ranks states on steps taken to reduce the risk of accidental injury, the country’s fifth-leading cause of death.Stay tuned to KEY News at 5pm for the full report.