Dive Brief:
- Wisconsin increased seat belt use in the state more than 25% over the past 20 years with the help of a public education campaign and a seat belt law that allows law enforcement to pull over a vehicle if either the driver or passenger is not wearing a seat belt.
- The Wisconsin Department of Transportation began working with the Affirm Agency, a marketing communications firm, on the department’s “Click It or Ticket” campaign in 2006. These high-visibility enforcement efforts, which started in a few states and became national in 2003, take place annually around Memorial Day.
- Wisconsin’s effort helped increase statewide seat belt use from about 74% in 2009 to 92% in 2023.
Dive Insight:
About half of people killed in passenger vehicle crashes were unrestrained in 2023, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In Wisconsin that year, 56% of passenger vehicle occupants killed at night were not wearing seat belts. Seat belt use is higher in states with primary enforcement laws, according to NHTSA.
“Seat belts are the first line of defense against injury or death in vehicles and in vehicle crashes,” Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety Consumer Co-Chair Jack Gillis said during a December 2024 press conference.
The federal government began requiring automakers to install lap and shoulder belts in 1968. Seat belt use was low until states began to enact and enforce laws requiring vehicle occupants be belted. “Putting on a seat belt helps us achieve zero deaths on Wisconsin’s roads,” Wisconsin State Patrol Superintendent Tim Carnahan said in a May 16 statement.
Wisconsin’s annual summer enforcement campaign involved Green Bay Packers former receiver Donald Driver to reach men aged 18 to 34, the campaign’s primary target audience and the demographic least likely to wear a seat belt, according to the marketing agency. The campaign utilized Driver in television and radio ads, animated videos, online ads, public service announcements and press events.
The campaign also includes interactive elements such as the Driver Safety Quiz, which offers participants a chance to win a football autographed by Driver.
