By Staff
Aug. 1, 2001
The good news is the highly-publicized "Click it or Ticket" campaign in late May and early June raised seat belt use from 49 percent to 62 percent among drivers and front-seat passengers traveling Mississippi roads. The bad news is Mississippi still has one of the country's lowest rates of seat belt usage.
Mississippi law requires drivers and front-seat passengers to wear seat belts. It was not publicized at the time of Click it or Ticket  perhaps in a bit of public relations spin that the state has no primary offense law. That means officers must have some other reason such as speeding to pull over a driver.
Would this have changed the public's reaction to Click it or Ticket? Maybe.
But it would not have changed the fact that wearing a seat belt is still the best basic protection for most drivers and passengers.