COLUMBUS – This upcoming Memorial Day weekend, the Ohio State Highway Patrol is continuing its involvement in the Click It or Ticket campaign and commitment to zero tolerance safety belt enforcement. Additional troopers will be out on Ohio’s highways in an effort to save lives on this high-volume traffic weekend.

Law enforcement officers in Ohio must first suspect another violation before issuing a citation for not wearing a safety belt. The campaign is organized by Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort), which was formed as a multi-jurisdictional program of patrol, enforcement, and planning activities committed to crash reduction.

Troopers will also be concentrating their efforts in five of Ohio’s major metropolitan communities by cracking down on Extreme Driving, including speeds of over 100 mph, unsafe lane changes, and other types of reckless and dangerous driving.

“Every day, troopers on Ohio’s roadways witness first-hand the tragic results of not buckling up – from investigating fatal crashes to knocking on a door to tell a family member about a fatality that could have been prevented by wearing a safety belt,” Colonel Paul D. McClellan, Patrol superintendent said. “Similar to our aggressive stance on impaired driving enforcement, we can move even closer to achieving our highway safety goals through enhanced safety belt enforcement during the summer driving season.”

Additionally, the Patrol is joining more than 6,000 businesses and law enforcement and government agencies throughout the country in Operation ABC Mobilization – America Buckling Up Children. Operation ABC Mobilization is a crackdown on drivers who don’t buckle up children by stepping up the enforcement of Ohio’s child passenger safety law throughout the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Ohio’s child passenger safety law requires children under four years of age or under 40 pounds to be restrained in a child safety seat. Throughout the holiday weekend, troopers will be looking for child passenger safety violations as well as adult safety belt violations. If a trooper sees an unrestrained child, the driver can be stopped for the child safety seat violation.

A total of 21 people were killed in crashes on Ohio’s roadways over the 2004 Memorial Day holiday weekend. Of the 21 people killed, 12 were alcohol-related.

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