August 24, 2004

A two-week advertising campaign warning motorists to buckle up or pay up begins this week, announced the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP). The federally funded initiative forewarns of the Labor Day safety belt enforcement effort, which begins Aug. 30 and runs through Sept. 12.

The advertisement, which debuted during the May 2004 safety belt enforcement effort, continues the stronger and more direct enforcement theme introduced last year. Focus group testing indicated the safety belt fine and fees were an effective means to encourage young men to buckle up, and national research shows motorists do not respond to "soft" messages regarding traffic safety issues. To address these issues, OHSP fine tuned its message for safety belt enforcement efforts, pairing Buckle Up or Pay Up with the well-recognized Click It or Ticket.

"We want to save lives and to do that we need to get people to buckle up," said Michael L. Prince, OHSP division director. "This advertising campaign is designed to warn them of the upcoming enforcement effort and to encourage them to save their lives and their money."

As with past campaigns, the ads are designed to reach young men, the group least likely to buckle up.

Safety belt use is lowest among 16- to 29-year-olds at 81.3 percent, according to a direct observation survey conducted by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in the winter of 2003. For 16- to 29-year-old males, belt use is only 75.2 percent, compared to 88.2 percent for females in the same age group.

The advertising buy will employ the use of television, cable and radio spots in the state’s major media markets, including Battle Creek, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Saginaw. No state general fund money is being used to support this effort.

Read more press releases from the Michigan State Police.