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May 19, 2025 - Wearing your seat belt increases the odds of surviving a motor vehicle crash, and it guarantees you don’t get a $50 ticket for not buckling up during the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission’s Click It or Ticket law enforcement campaign.
LHSC reminds drivers and passengers that not wearing a seat belt is a primary traffic offense in Louisiana, and a first-time violation costs $50. Across Louisiana, police will be looking for seat belt violators through June 1 as the Memorial Day holiday period marks the unofficial start of summer vacation season.
“Fifty bucks is an expensive lesson, but it’s nothing compared to the price an unrestrained driver or passenger pays if they get into a serious crash,” LHSC Executive Director Lisa Freeman said.
LHSC’s latest observational survey shows that 88.4% of Louisiana travelers are wearing their seat belts. However, that percentage is still below the national rate of 91.2%, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Additionally, the remaining 11.6% of people not buckling up in Louisiana accounts for hundreds of crash fatalities, according to 2023 statistics from the Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation Safety (CARTS) at LSU.
“That small majority of less than 12% of drivers who don’t buckle up make up 46% of the drivers who die in Louisiana crashes,” Freeman said. “In other words, buckling up could save hundreds of lives each year.”
According to CARTS, in 2023, where safety belt usage was known in Louisiana:
• 46.22% of the drivers killed in motor vehicles were not wearing a safety belt.
• 64.42% of passengers ages 6 and older killed in motor vehicles were not wearing a seat belt.
• 60.00% of the children killed, ages 5 and under, were not properly restrained in a child seat.
Louisiana law also mandates that every passenger, including those in the back seat, must be properly restrained with a seat belt or an age and size-appropriate child car seat or booster seat. Anyone who is not restrained in a vehicle is subject to getting a $50 ticket.
“It is every seat, every time, day or night,” Freeman said. “Seat belt safety does not take a vacation, and neither do our law enforcement partners during Click It or Ticket.”
Click It or Ticket is a national enforcement mobilization. For more information about seat belt use, including tips on how to properly use a seat belt, visit https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle-safety/seat-belts. There is also information on how to buckle up when pregnant.
For more information about properly restraining a child and car seat safety please visit Buckle Up Louisiana.
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