For: Immediate Release | May 18, 2018

Avon PD is participating in a Click It or Ticket Campaign from May 21 through June 3

Avon, CO—Seat belts save lives! Please buckle up and keep you and your family safe. This is the basic objective behind this upcoming Click It or Ticket Campaign. Beginning May 21^st, the Avon Police Department will be participating in a nationwide two-week seat belt compliance campaign in an effort to increase seat belt awareness, use, and to save lives. This is a zero tolerance campaign and officers will have no discretion when enforcing seatbelt violations. The Town of Avon has a primary seatbelt ordinance for adult drivers and front-seat passengers. Drivers will be cited for violating the seatbelt law. Seatbelt fines are $75 per violation.

Wearing a seatbelt can decrease your chances of being ejected from a vehicle, and increase your chances of surviving a crash.  If you are involved in a collision, an air bag can only protect you if you remain in a vehicle.  Colorado law requires all drivers and front seat occupants to wear seatbelts, with a minimum fine of $65 per violation. The driver is also responsible for properly restraining young passengers in the front and back seats. The minimum fine for violating the state's child-passenger safety law is $82. Please remember that an unbuckled passenger can be a weapon against buckled occupants if they are unrestrained in a vehicle during a collision.

“It only takes two seconds to buckle up and that two seconds can change the lives of the ones you love forever. Seatbelt use has an impact on everyone in your life-as a mother, I urge you to start the habit of buckling up with your children to keep them safe throughout their lives,” says Amy Nichols, a mother of unrestrained victim killed in a car crash.

Click It or Ticket is a nationwide campaign from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Since the campaign started in Colorado in 2002, seatbelt use has increased from 72 percent to 90.1 percent, a statistically significant increase from 88.5 percent in 2017. Funding for the Click It or Ticket Campaign is provided through a federal grant from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).
 
The public can find more information about the law at www.seatbeltscolorado.com and www.carseatscolorado.com.

Please buckle-up, drive safe, and, if you choose to drink, don’t drive!

# # #

Contact: Chief Greg Daly, Avon Police Department at (970) 748-4040