The Delaware Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is in the midst of its latest Click It or Ticket campaign.
The Office of Highway Safety is joining with local and state police on the targeted enforcement effort that began Monday, May 20th and runs through June 9th.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Delaware saw its highest seat belt usage at 93.9 percent in 2023, just above the national seat belt usage rate of 91.9 percent.
OHS Communications Officer Meghan Niddrie says the enforcement effort can still have a necessary impact.
“So this is a high-visiblity enforcement, which runs day and night. A lot of our unrestrained crashes that we see are at night, so that’s kind of a big focus here - typically, when you see them patrolling, you’re more likely to ‘let me make sure I’m being my best.’”
In a five-year period from 2019-2023, younger drivers in Delaware were the most likely to be involved in unrestrained crashes.
Highway Safety is also reminding Delawareans of the state’s updated Car Seat Law to protect young passengers, set to take effect July 1st.
The new law sets specific guidelines for ages and weights, and appropriate booster seat rules.
OHS Communications officer Aubrey Klick says the new law provides more safety for young passengers.
“Now we’re going to require that children remain in a rear-facing car seat up to age 2 and 30 pounds, They then must remain in a harnessed car seat, whether rear-facing or forward-facing, up until age 4 and 40 pounds. Then, after that, they must remain in a booster seat until they reach the upper height or weight maximum allowed by their booster seat manufacturer.”
OHS suggests an appointment with a Certified Car Seat Technician to make sure children and young family members are riding safely.
Contact information for the fitting stations is available at the website ArriveAliveDE - Secure the Kids.
