Carson City Joining Forces focuses on seat belt safety

The Carson City Sheriff’s Office will be participating in the November Joining Forces event, focusing on seat belt safety with “Click it or Ticket.”

Joining Forces is a multijurisdictional program that promotes statewide enforcement with traffic issues such as DUI, distracted driving, and speeding.

This month, law enforcement will be watching for people driving without their seatbelts on, because wearing a seat belt can double someone’s chances of surviving a crash.

Officials with the Carson City Sheriff’s Office said it’s important to have a seat belt on at all times, no matter the distance of the drive. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 52 percent of car crashes occur within a five mile radius of one’s home and nearly 70 percent happen within 10 miles.

During the operation, law enforcement will also be looking for drivers who will be trying to fake wearing a seat belt by rushing to put it on when getting pulled over for an offense.

“Faking it won’t protect lives,” said Sgt. Scott McDaniel in a press release. “The intent of the Joining Forces campaign is to educate the motoring public about the importance of buckling up.”

Funding for Joining Forces is provided by grants from the Nevada Department of Public Safety-Office of Traffic Safety. The money is used to pay overtime for additional deputies who are out looking for drivers and passengers who aren’t wearing seat belts when stopped for traffic violations. The goal of these enforcement campaigns is to save lives by increasing public awareness about the dangers of making poor choices while driving.