As the summer driving season kicks off and families hit the road for vacation, local law-enforcement agencies are partnering with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office to remind motorists to “Click It or Ticket.” From May 20 to June 2, participating agencies across the state will increase seat belt enforcement as part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s nationwide mobilization.

According to Tennessee’s Integrated Traffic Analysis Network, 315 people who died in Tennessee traffic crashes last year were not wearing seat belts. This represents approximately 30 percent of the state’s total traffic fatalities in 2017.

According to the NHTSA, nearly half of the passenger-vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2016 were unrestrained. At night from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., that number soared to 56 percent of those killed. That’s why one focus of the “Click It or Ticket” campaign is nighttime enforcement. Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night.