University Hospital commemorates 929 unbuckled lives lost
TxDOT launches ‘Click It or Ticket’ campaign to urge Texans to buckle up.
San Antonio — The Texas Department of Transportation wants Texans to know that even one life lost because someone failed to wear a seat belt is one too many. As part of the annual “Click It or Ticket” campaign, Texas law enforcement officers will increase their efforts from May 21 to June 3 to ticket unbelted drivers and passengers.
Statewide seat belt use has increased to nearly 92 percent, yet 929 people were not buckled up and died last year on Texas roads. Fifty-seven percent of those crashes occurred at night.
San Antonio saw 65 motor vehicle traffic crashes in which unrestrained occupants sustained fatal or serious injuries in 2017. These crashes resulted in 24 fatalities and 54 serious injuries.
Buckling up is the single most effective step drivers and passengers can take to protect themselves in a crash. Wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of dying in a crash by 45 percent in a passenger vehicle, and up to 60 percent in a pickup truck.
WHO:
Speakers include University Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. Mark Muir and Jennifer Northway, director of Adult and Pediatric Injury Prevention.
WHEN:
Tuesday, May 8 at 11 a.m.
WHERE:
University Hospital, 4502 Medical Drive,
San Antonio, TX 78229. (parking lot at the corner of Medical Drive and Wurzbach)
MEDIA:
The press conference will take place at University Hospital against a backdrop of 929 pairs of “ghost shoes,” each representing an unbuckled life lost across the state in 2017.
For media inquiries contact MediaRelations@txdot.gov or call 512-463-8700.
