VCU news

By Corey Byers

The Virginia Commonwealth University Police Department wants to remind motorists to “Click It or Ticket.” In order to enforce this reminder, officers will be stepping up enforcement for two weeks beginning May 20.

The VCU PD’s grant-funded efforts are part of a larger, national “Click It or Ticket” mobilization that runs from May 19 to June 1. As motorists take to the roads to celebrate the long Memorial Day weekend, law enforcement officials across the nation will be ensuring that everyone buckles up.

“We would much rather have people buckling up, rather than issuing tickets,” VCU Police Chief John Venuti said. “However, it you’re not wearing your seat belt around VCU campuses, you will be ticketed.”

According to new data released from the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), traffic fatalities are up nationwide for the first time in five years. In 2012, 10,335 people who were killed in motor vehicle crashes were not wearing their seat belts. NHTSA data also details how more traffic vehicle deaths occur at night. In 2012, 61 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed during the nighttime hours of 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m. were not wearing their seat belts.

“It only takes a few seconds to buckle up and that’s what we really want people to do,” Venuti said. “Habitual offenders put themselves – and others – at risk for harm or death in an accident. The tickets will have to serve as a reminder of that.”

For more information on the “Click It or Ticket” mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot. Reporters interested in receiving results from the VCU PD checkpoints should e-mail byersc@vcu.edu.