May 2004 Click It or Ticket Seat Belt Mobilization Evaluation: Final Report

Solomon, M. G. (Mark Geoffrey); Chaffe, Robert H. B.; Cosgrove, Linda A. · 2007 · ROSA P / United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This report evaluates the May 2004 "Click It or Ticket" (CIOT) National Mobilization, a nationwide high-visibility seat belt enforcement and publicity campaign sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The study aimed to determine whether intensive, short-duration enforcement combined with substantial paid media advertising could significantly increase seat belt usage rates. The mobilization was notable for its scale, involving approximately $32 million in purchased media and participation from law enforcement agencies across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The evaluation methodology combined observational surveys of seat belt use with pre- and post-campaign telephone and driver licensing office surveys. The campaign featured a two-week enforcement blitz from May 24 through the Memorial Day holiday, during which law enforcement agencies issued 657,305 seat belt citations. Media efforts included roughly $12 million in national television and radio advertisements and nearly $20 million in state-level advertising, primarily focused on enforcement messages. Additionally, a special "Buckle Up in Your Truck" pilot program was conducted in five south-central states to address low belt use among pickup truck occupants, using non-enforcement-focused safety messages prior to the main CIOT enforcement wave. Results indicated a substantial increase in seat belt compliance. Observational surveys showed that the national average front-seat occupant belt use rate rose from 76.6% in 2003 to 79.0% in 2004, a 2.4-percentage-point increase. Forty-two of the 51 reporting jurisdictions experienced an increase in belt use, while only nine saw a decrease or no change. States with primary seat belt laws (allowing stops solely for belt violations) maintained higher usage rates than those with secondary laws, though both groups saw gains. Telephone surveys revealed that public awareness of enforcement efforts increased significantly, with respondents reporting higher exposure to television and radio messages and a stronger perception that police were issuing more tickets. The "Buckle Up in Your Truck" pilot demonstrated an 8-percentage-point increase in belt use among pickup occupants in the target states, narrowing the disparity between car and truck users. The study concludes that highly publicized, intensive enforcement campaigns are effective in rapidly increasing seat belt usage. The findings confirm that the combination of paid media saturation and visible law enforcement creates a perception of high enforcement likelihood, which drives behavioral change. The report supports the continued use of Selective Traffic Enforcement Programs (STEPs) as a proven method for improving occupant protection compliance, noting that the CIOT model successfully leveraged federal and state resources to achieve measurable safety gains on a national scale.

Key finding

Seat belt use rates increased in 41 of 50 states and the District of Columbia following the May 2004 Click It or Ticket mobilization, with an overall average gain of 2.4 percentage points.

Methodology

mixed_methods

Sample size: 2401

Provenance

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Topics

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• seat belt use
• child passenger safety
• public messaging

Information type

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• Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation, policy recommendations
• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence