As summer kicks off and travel increases, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office is partnering with the Illinois Department of Transportation to remind motorists to Click It or Ticket. The seat-belt enforcement campaign will take place May 10 through May 28, concurrent with one of the busiest travel and holiday weekends of the year. Click It or Ticket enforces seatbelt and car-seat use to keep all motorists safe.

“Our Sheriff’s Deputies see firsthand the loss of life and critical injuries when people do not buckle up,” said Sheriff John Idleburg.  “It absolutely breaks our hearts to see children and others killed in crashes, especially when simply putting on a seat belt would have made the difference between life and death.”

Illinois has a 93.8% observed seatbelt usage rate, but a disproportionate number of fatalities involve unbelted motorists and passengers.  

Seatbelt use drops even more in the evening hours between 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m. That’s why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office will be taking a no-excuses approach, writing citations day and night. Motorists caught not buckled up will be ticketed, and those caught driving impaired will be arrested.  

Seatbelts save lives, and every vehicle occupant—front seat and back, child and adult—needs to remember to buckle up, every trip, every time.  Together, we can make zero fatalities a reality in Illinois.

For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, visit www.BuckleUpIllinois.org