Utahns 'clicking it'

More and more Utahns are deciding to click it rather then get tickets, according to a study by the Utah Highway Safety Office.

A new UHS survey reports that approximately 86.9 percent of motor vehicle drivers and front-seat passengers in six Utah counties wear their safety belts. That is a 1.2 percent increase from the 2004 usage rate.

"We've increased for seven years," said Kristy Rigby, Utah Highway Safety program manager. "This is a 1.2 percent increase, which is quite a lot when you have such a high rate like we do."

Rigby said that this is the first year Utah adopted the national slogan of "Click It or Ticket," but she said she thinks it has helped.

"Every May during our safety belt mobilization, we have gotten stronger and stronger," Rigby said. "This tells me we are getting better."

During June, Utah Highway Patrol officers surveyed 63,768 drivers in Cache, Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, Washington and Weber counties at 162 highway, freeway or local roadway sites.

"Highway patrol officers would stand at the site and observe adult driver and front seat passenger safety belt use," Rigby said. "It was purely observational."

Officers found that five of the six counties increased their usage rates from 2004 while Salt Lake County safety belt usage was down 4.6 percentage points, according to the study. Weber County had the lowest rate of seat belt use at 85.2 percent.

Rigby said officers found that females and people traveling on highways or freeways buckle up more often. Females used seat belts 90.4 percent of the time, whereas males buckled up 85 percent of the time, according to UHS.

"Males tend to be higher risk-takers in general," Rigby said. "That's just a general statement. It's the same nationwide."

Safety belt usage was 89.5 percent on highways or freeways and 85.4 percent on local roadways, according to UHS.

"That's expected," Rigby said. "You always buckle up more on highways or faster roadways."

The UHS survey was approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration so the data can be compared from state to state. Rigby said states may receive federal funding if they have an increase in safety belt use from one year to the next.