Buckle Up-Day and Night-Click It or Ticket

Hampton Roads, VA – November 22-30, 2025:  Did you know that proper seat belt and child safety seat use is the single most effective safety device for preventing death and serious injury in a crash? Seat belts and safety seats hold drivers and passengers in place and keep everyone from being ejected from a vehicle.

Drive Safe Hampton Roads is joining its partners in law enforcement to share the message “Click It or Ticket” throughout the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. As you are driving to your Thanksgiving gatherings, area law enforcement will be on the roads ensuring that all traffic laws are being followed, including seat belt and child safety seat laws.

“Click It or Ticket” is a national seat belt enforcement campaign, which runs November 22-30, 2025, and focuses on reducing the number of fatalities that occur when people fail to buckle up. If law enforcement spots someone unbelted, they will pull the driver over and issue a ticket.

Effective July 1, 2025, Virginia law requires all occupants of motor vehicles to be restrained by a seat belt, regardless of where they are seated in the vehicle. Children under age 8 must be properly secured in an approved child safety seat, and rear-facing child seats must be placed in the back seat of a vehicle. (Seat Belts and Airbags | Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles)

In 2024, 8 people lost their lives, and 768 were injured in Virginia over the five-day Thanksgiving time frame according to the DMV-2024 Annual Crash Facts.

In 2023, nearly 50% of all people killed in vehicle crashes were not buckled. Drivers must ensure that everyone is buckled before the vehicle ever leaves its parking spot.

The bottom line is this:  Proper use of seat belts and child safety seats may mean the difference between life and death. This Thanksgiving, and every day of the year. Remember: “Click It or Ticket.”