It’s a reminder put out several times a year through the Click it or Ticket campaign by the Texas Department of Transportation.

Last year, the simple act of buckling up saved many Texans from deaths.

Unfortunately - according to TxDOT data in 2020 - there was a 16% increase in deaths of unbuckled motorists. 

2020 saw 1,073 fatalities compared to 926 in 2019. Across the Rio Grande Valley, 2020 saw 32 fatalities and 57 serious injuries.

“For cars, buckling up can reduce dying for about 45% but for pickups, buckling up can reduce the risk of dying by 60%,” TxDOT Public information Officer Octavio Saenz said. “Every single passenger by law needs to wear a seatbelt - and what's more important is children, because they don't have a say so they need to be in the right seat.”

The ultimate message of the Click It or Ticket campaign is that buckling up saves lives, Saenz said.