THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9512010267
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
Motorists who look over their shoulders when they pass law enforcement officials this month had better be wearing a seat belt.
Drivers who aren't wearing one when they cross an officer's field of vision are likely to end up with a court date.
Starting last weekend, the state breathed new life into its successful ``Click It or Ticket'' program to catch those traveling strapless.
``For the next three weeks, we're gonna be kicking butt - all over the state,'' Tim Phillips, field representative for the Governor's Highway Safety Program, said on a public relations stopover at the Elizabeth City Police Department.
In the seat belt program's first 21 months, officials say, Click It or Ticket has reduced traffic deaths and serious injuries by 12 percent and saved more than $160 million in health care and insurance costs.
More than 13,000 checkpoints for the Click It or Ticket and DWI-busting Booze It & Lose It programs have netted hundreds of thousands of related and unrelated violations, officials said.
``You can't get much more serious than that,'' Phillips said. ``No other state in the nation has done it.'' by CNB