Click It or Ticket - FAQs
2. What exactly is Tennessee’s seatbelt law?
3. Who is covered by the law?
4. Can I be ticketed for unbelted passengers?
5. When does Click It or Ticket happen?
6. Where is the enforcement?
7. Why is Click It or Ticket necessary? Don’t law enforcement officers enforce this law all the time?
8. Why devote state resources to Click It or Ticket?
9. Isn’t it my personal right to choose to buckle up or not?
10. What are the penalties for non-compliance?
11. Are both lap and shoulder belts required?
12. How is the law that covers children different?
13. My car doesn’t have seatbelts. Do I have to install them?
14. Our pickup truck only has three seatbelts, but there are four in our family. What do we do?
15. Are employees required to wear seatbelts in company cars?
16. I’m too large for my seatbelt to fit around me. What should I do?
17. Now that I’m pregnant, should I still wear a seatbelt?
18. Can’t seatbelts actually cause injuries?
1. What is Click it or Ticket?
Click It or Ticket is a high-visibility education and enforcement campaign
of Tennessee’s seat belt laws.Sponsored by the Governor’s Highway Safety Office, Tennessee’s
law enforcement agencies and public health officials, Click It or Ticket
aims at reducing serious injuries and fatalities on Tennessee’s roadways
by reminding everyone to buckle up.
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2. What exactly is Tennessee’s seatbelt law?
Tennessee Seat Belt Law
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3. Who is covered by the law?
All drivers and front seat passengers are covered by the seat belt law and must have a seat belt properly fastened about their bodies at all times when the vehicle is in a forward motion. Children less than age 18 are covered under the Tennessee Child Passenger Safety (CPS) and Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws. All occupants in ALL seating positions should ride buckled up to help
protect all occupants. Unbuckled rear seat occupants can injure buckled up
front seat occupants as well as themselves when they are thrown around or
out of a vehicle in a crash.
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4. Can I be ticketed for unbelted passengers?
Drivers are responsible for themselves and for all child passengers less
than age 18 in the front or back seat. Licensed passengers 16 or older
are responsible for themselves and will be ticketed instead of the
driver. The 2004 Law allows law enforcement to stop a vehicle if the
driver and passengers are not properly restrained, whereas previously,
they would have to be stopped for another offense before being ticketed.
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5. When does Click It or Ticket happen?
The Click It or Ticket enforcement blitz is scheduled for periods
surrounding Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. Drivers and
passengers are always subject to the law when in moving vehicles.
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6. Where is the enforcement?
Click It or Ticket takes place statewide in Tennessee and throughout an
eight state region that also includes North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Kentucky.
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7. Why is Click It or Ticket necessary? Don’t
law enforcement officers enforce this law all the time?
Seatbelt laws are enforced regularly along with many other safety laws.
However, during regular enforcement activity, often the only person who
knows that seat belt laws are being enforced is the person receiving the
ticket. Aggressive, coordinated, highly publicized enforcement campaigns
send a strong message that everyone must be buckled up. It also enhances
the perceived importance of seat belt usage and, in turn, leads to greater
compliance
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8. Why devote state resources to Click It or Ticket?
Traffic crashes are a leading cause of death in Tennessee and the United
States. Therefore, they are a significant threat to public health. Failure
to buckle up contributes to more fatalities than any other single traffic
safety-related behavior. Increasing seat belt usage is the most effective
and immediate way to save lives and reduce injuries on roadways. Crash
data analysis indicates that seat belts used properly reduce the risk of
fatal injury to front seat passengers.
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9.
Isn’t it my personal right to choose to buckle up or not?
All traffic laws impose some limitation of choice on individuals. It is
important to remember that driving is not a “right,” but a privilege,
granted and controlled by the State of Tennessee. Citizens often accept
the legitimacy of traffic laws because it is apparent to them that failure
to obey the law could result in harm to the motorist or others. Opponents
of the seatbelt law often claim that no one else would be hurt if they do
not use seat belts. This is not true. Unrestrained occupants often injure
others in crashes, and unbelted drivers have less control during a crash,
often increasing the severity. Increased injuries result in increased
costs to all Tennessee citizens.
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10. What are the penalties for non-compliance?
If you are unbuckled or have children in a vehicle who are not properly
restrained, and you are stopped by law enforcement, you will be ticketed. A person charged with a violation may, in lieu of appearance in court, submit a fine of $10.00 for a first violation, and $20.00 on second and subsequent violations to the clerk of the court which has jurisdiction of such offense within the county in which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed.
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11. Are both lap and shoulder belts required?
The law requires the proper use of whatever seat belt system the seating
position provides. Vehicles equipped with air bags also provide lap and
shoulder belts that must be worn. Some vehicles have automatic shoulder
belts with lap belts that are fastened manually. These manual lap belts
must be used for compliance and for maximum protection.
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12. How is the law that covers children different?
Children less than 18
years of age are covered under the Child Passenger (CPS) Law. Children
younger than 18 years of age may be buckled in the rear seat of the
vehicle as well as the front seat. A child who is under one year of age,
and weighs less than 20 pounds, must ride in a rear-facing safety seat
that meets federal standards until they are at least 1 year old and
weigh at least 20 pounds. It is best to ride rear-facing as long as
possible. Any person transporting a child between the ages of 1 and 3,
who weigh more than 20 pounds must ride in a forward-facing safety seat.
Any driver transporting a child between the ages of 4 through 8 who is less
that 4'9" tall is responsible to see that the child ride in a belt
positioning booster seat. It is recommended that all child restraint
systems be installed in the rear seat of the vehicle when available.
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13. My car doesn’t have seatbelts. Do I have
to install them?
Cars manufactured after 1967 and vans, pickup trucks and sport utility
vehicles manufactured after 1971, are required by federal standards to
have belts. Belts must be installed in these vehicles if the original seat
belts have been removed. Vehicles brought in from other countries must be
upgraded to conform with applicable federal motor vehicle standards. This
means that passenger vehicles, light trucks and vans brought in from other
countries must be fitted with belts if they were manufactured after the
above date.
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14. Our pickup truck only has three seatbelts, but
there are four in our family. What do we do?
The bottom line is that there is no safe way to carry more people than
you have belts to accommodate. If room allows, extra belts can be
installed to protect more people. As far as the Seat Belt Law is concerned, if you have four
people age 16 or older and three belts, the fourth person is in violation
of the law. You also have the hard decision of who you are going to leave
unprotected.
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15. Are employees required to wear seatbelts in company
cars?
In most cases, yes. Unless the vehicle in question has a "commercial" or
"farm" license plate and it is being used for business purposes, or is a
delivery vehicle making frequent stops and not exceeding 20 mph, or is
being used by a rural mail or newspaper carrier, it is covered under the
Seat Belt Law. In addition, many employers have seat belt use policies for
their vehicles.
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16. I’m too large for my seatbelt to fit around
me. What should I do?
Seat belt extenders are available for most domestic vehicles for a small
fee. These extenders are 10-inch lengths of webbing with buckles on both
ends to fit onto the belts already in the vehicles. Take the information
on the seat belt label, along with your vehicle, to the parts department
of your local dealer. Extenders are not interchangeable, so go to the
dealer for your particular vehicle. If you have any trouble getting
service from the dealer, try another dealer or call the customer
assistance number listed in your owner's manual. Check your owner's manual
for an explanation of these belt systems.
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17. Now that I’m pregnant, should I still wear
a seatbelt?
Yes, especially now. The greatest threat to the unborn child is death or
serious injury to the mother, and a seat belt will help insure your
survival in the event of a crash. When possible, both the lap and shoulder
belt should be worn with the lap portion low and snug on the hips beneath
the baby and the shoulder belt snug and above the baby.
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18. Can’t seatbelts actually cause injuries?
Yes, they can cause some injuries, especially in severe crashes. These
injuries are usually limited to bruises and cracked collarbones and ribs -
minor injuries when compared to what often happens without the seat belt.
It is important that belts be worn correctly to reduce the chance that
they might injure you.Lap belts should be worn as low and snug as possible
on the hips since belts that are worn high on the stomach can cause
injuries.
Shoulder belts must also be worn snugly across the shoulder and chest.
Never wear a shoulder belt with more than an inch of space between your
chest and the belt. Too much slack will allow your head to go too far
forward in a crash. If the shoulder belt rubs against your neck and is
uncomfortable, try adjusting your sitting position or the position of the
vehicle seat to get a proper fit. Cloth comfort sleeves can be placed on
the shoulder belt to make it more comfortable. Do not place the shoulder
belt behind your back or under your arm. With the shoulder belt behind the
back, your head will be thrown forward to strike the dashboard,
windshield, or the air bag. As with the belts behind the back, shoulder
belts under the arm do not hold your head back away from danger. In
addition, the belt under the arm can fracture ribs and cause serious
internal injuries.
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Governor's
Highway Safety Office, James K. Polk Building, 505 Deaderick Street,
Suite 1800
Nashville, TN 37243
Office: 615.741.2589
1.800.99 BELTS
Fax: 615.253.5523
"We're going to save lives"
Governor Bill Haslam
