Click it or Ticket starts May 19 in Clark County; Highway Patrol says buckle up

Only about 5% of Clark County drivers do not wear seat belts, according to data from the past two years of Ohio’s annual seat belt study. But that small fragment of drivers has accounted for 47% of the 100-plus people who have died in fatal crashes in the county since 2020.

The Clark County Combined Health District and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are urging drivers to buckle up as part of the national Click it or Ticket seat belt safety campaign, which runs during the Memorial Day holiday from May 19 to June 1.

The health district, Clark County Safe Communities Coalition, Partners in Prevention, Links and Springfield Fire Division will host a summer safety kickoff event from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at 529 E. Home Road, on the north side of Springfield, near the high school.

“Wearing a safety belt is the easiest thing you can do to protect yourself, your family, and friends,” said Lt. Shawn Cook, Springfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP).

Credit: Bill Lackey

Credit: Bill Lackey

Since the start of 2020, there had been 102 fatal crashes in Clark County as of early May. Of those, 48, or 47%, involved unbelted drivers, according to OSHP data.

The national seat belt daytime use rate in 2024 by adults was 91.2%, compared to 91.9% in 2023, and in Clark County that rate was 94.6% in 2024, compared to 95.7% in 2023. Those statistics are from Ohio’s annual Statewide Observational Seat Belt Study.

Clark County Health District officials said Clark County’s rate is good, “but it can be better. The other 5.4% (from this year’s 94.6%) still need to be reminded that seat belts save lives. Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night.”

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One of the focuses of this campaign is nighttime enforcement, because NHTSA data shows a higher number of unrestrained passenger vehicle occupant fatalities happen at night.

The data also shows seat belt use differs among males and females because more than half (53%) of males killed in crashes in 2023 were unrestrained, compared to 41% of females killed in crashes were not buckled up.

“Using a safety belt remains the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself in a crash,” Cook said.

Saturday’s kickoff event will include food trucks and vendors, games and activities, watermelon drops to simulate an unbelted crash, a Links presentation on opioid use and trauma, resource fair and more.

For more information, visit NHTSA.gov/ClickIt.

Credit: Bill Lackey

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About the Author

Brooke Spurlock

Brooke Spurlock covers education, crime and more in Clark and Champaign counties as a reporter for the Springfield News-Sun. She has been a writer for over six years, which includes her previous work as a breaking news desk investigator. Spurlock has her bachelor's in mass communications with a minor in psychology and her associates in paralegal.