Sheriff Blaise Smith announced the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office will join other local law enforcement agencies in participating in the Click It or Ticket campaign which runs from May 23 through June 5, 2022.

The campaign is coordinated and funded by the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Deputies will be checking motorists for proper seat belt and safety seat use and other violations.

Click It or Ticket is a seat belt enforcement campaign to increase the national seat belt usage rate. According to the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, in 2020, more than half of all young adults ages 18 to 34 killed in crashes were completely unrestrained. Men make up the majority of those killed in crashes, representing 67% of all passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2020. Data shows that 55% of men killed in crashes were unrestrained, compared to 43% of women killed in crashes.

Sheriff Smith and the deputies of the SMPSO encourage all motorists to be safer by using seat belts.