Pittsburgh, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) urges motorists to practice safe behavior, including seat belt safety during the current aggressive driving and national seat belt enforcement efforts.

“Speeding is the number one offense we see when it comes to aggressive driving, said Hampton Township Police Chief Tom Vulakovich. “Although the mobilization is a great reminder, officers continue to patrol the high crash areas year-around in effort to keep everyone on the road safe.”

Local and state police are working to reduce the amount crashes caused by aggressive driving. More than 216 municipal and state agencies are participating in Pennsylvania’s aggressive driving mobilization. Motorists continue to show aggressive behavior on the road, due to the lower traffic volumes.

This aggressive driving wave focuses on school bus safety, the Move Over law, tailgating, and speeding. Motorists exhibiting other unsafe behaviors such as driving too fast for conditions, following too closely, or other aggressive actions will be cited.

The number of crashes and fatalities in Pennsylvania are trending down; however, in 2019 there were 6,748 aggressive driving crashes which resulted in 95 fatalities.

Motorists are also reminded wearing a seat belt can reduce the risk of a fatal injury by up to 60 percent. PennDOT will partner with police departments across the state as well as other state and local safety organizations as part of the National “Click it or Ticket” Enforcement Mobilization running through November 29, 2020. The goal of the initiative is to increase seat belt use, reduce injuries, and increase public safety awareness in Pennsylvania.

Coordinating high visibility seat belt enforcement checkpoints, state police will partner with other highway safety offices throughout Southwest Pennsylvania, to conduct a Border to Border Operation on Monday, November 16, 2020. Border to Border focuses on a one-day effort aimed to reduce seat belt fatalities in our region in conjunction with the "Click It or Ticket" initiative.

According to PennDOT data, Pennsylvania’s seat belt usage rate is approximately 88.9 percent. Although there has been a steady decrease in unbelted crashes since 2013, data shows Allegheny, Beaver, and Lawrence counties still saw more than 1,100 unrestrained crashes last year.

“We urge all drivers to practice safe behaviors behind the wheel, not just for their own safety, but for the safety of all motorists on our roads,” said Chief Vulakovich “The very first step to being safe is to buckle up!”

For more information, visit www.PennDOT.gov/Safety.

For regional twitter updates, visit www.twitter.com/511PAPittsburgh.

MEDIA CONTACT: Yasmeen Manyisha, 412-429-5044

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