By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–Buckle up, drivers. And passengers.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), state police and local agencies are teaming up to join the national Click It or Ticket campaign. The goal is to keep motorists safe leading to Memorial Day weekend – and throughout the year.

Through May 31, “law enforcement officers across Connecticut will be out in full force, issuing citations to drivers and passengers who fail to buckle up,” CTDOT said in a release. The campaign aims to reinforce the importance of seat belt use and reduce preventable injuries and fatalities.

“Seat belts save lives and wearing one remains the single most effective way to reduce the risk of serious injury or death in a crash,” said CTDOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto. “As traffic increases heading into the summer months, we’re reminding everyone that buckling up should be automatic, every trip, every time.”

Compliance in Connecticut is high, about 95%, several percentage points higher than the national average of 91.2%, CTDOT said. Westport’s compliance matches the state, with percentages in the mid-to-high 90s, said Lieutenant Anthony Prezioso, the Westport Police Department spokesman.

But there is room for improvement. In 2024, throughout Connecticut, 57 people lost their lives on the roadways while not wearing seatbelts, CTDOT said (Nationwide, 9,758 drivers and passengers died in crashes while not wearing seatbelts, the agency said.)

“I do believe that over the years folks have come to understand that the difference between serious injury and minor-to-no injury, or even worse, the difference between life and death, could be decided by a seatbelt,” Prezioso said. The town’s officers found in their investigations that belted drivers and passengers “fare far better in all types of collisions,” he said.

Other factors likely have helped bolster compliance, including the near-tripling of the fine for a violation, to $92 from $37 several years ago, Prezioso said. Another factor may be seatbelt detection systems in modern vehicles that sound an annoying, incessant tone until all occupants’ seatbelts have been fastened, he said.

“The message is quite simple,” Prezioso said. “When traveling in a vehicle, wear the safety belt regardless of where you are seated. It is an indisputable fact that a mere second or two of your time spent buckling a safety belt could decide the fate of the rest of your life.”

Ken Valenti

^{_{A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.}}