Gordon County motorists should be aware that “Click it or Ticket” is underway.

The national campaign by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety began on Monday, May 21, in Georgia.

All motorists, even if they’re just passing through on vacation, can expect a ticket if they don’t click it

because hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the state will be partnering with GOHS by cracking down on those who don’t buckle up, according to the press release from the Calhoun Police Department.

The GOHS is ticketing non-clickers because too many people in Georgia and across the country are still being killed in traffic crashes where their lives might have been saved if they were wearing a seatbelt.

According to the press release,in 2010, 423 people older than the age of 5 were killed in crashes where they were unrestrained. And while that number is down from 644 in 2006, it still indicates far too many people are not wearing their seatbelts when riding in passenger vehicles.And unbelted fatalities are still happening in disproportionate numbers at nighttime, in pickup trucks and in rural counties.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 61 percent of the 10,647 people killed in motor vehicle crashes between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. across the country in 2010 were not wearing their seatbelt. That is compared to 42 percent during daytime hours. In Georgia, rural counties, 60 percent of traffic fatalities are unrestrained. Additionally, pickup truck occupants in Georgia have the lowest seatbelt usage rate behind cars, SUV’s and vans.There’s no argument that seatbelts help save lives because the statistics prove it. NHTSA data shows that in 2010 alone, seatbelts saved an estimated 12,546 lives nationwide. Unfortunately, some people are still not getting the message. That’s because NHTSA data also shows that 22,187 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in traffic crashes in 2010 and 51 percent were not wearing seatbelts at the time of their fatal crash.

The Click it or Ticket campaign in Georgia will run through June 3.

For more information, call the CPD at 706-629-1234.