On Monday, local law enforcement agencies began extra seatbelt and child-safetyseat enforcement as part of the annual "Click-It-Or-Ticket Program." The program runs between Monday, May 19 and Sunday, June 1.

The "Click-It-Or-Ticket" campaign, in which TxDOT helps pay for officers' overtime and the department's related extra-enforcement expenses, has helped Texas become one of only 12 states in the nation that can boast a 90-percent seatbelt compliance rate. Texas' compliance rate was nearly 92 percent after the 2007 campaign.

"We're proud of that number," said TxDOT Public Information Officer Larry Krantz, "but that still means there are those out there who choose not to protect themselves or their loved ones by making sure everyone buckles up every time they get in a vehicle. When you are the driver, you become the responsible party to ensure that all passengers are buckled up.

"We know, for example, that when adults wear their safetybelts, children follow their lead.

"Children ages 5- 9 years old buckle up 70 percent of the time in vehicles with buckled drivers, compared with only 27 percent of the time when drivers are unbuckled."

How to prevent getting a seatbelt ticket:

1. All drivers and front seat passengers in all vehicles are required by Texas law to be secured by a safety belt. No exceptions.

2. Children younger than 17 years old must be secured with a safety belt or in a child safety seat, regardless of where they are sitting in the vehicle.

3. A child younger than five years old and less than 36 inches tall must ride in a child safety seat.

Law enforcement officers will also be paying special attention to pickup trucks this year.

While pickups account for one in four vehicles on the road in Texas, their drivers and passengers are less likely to wear their safety belts. Statistically, pickup trucks are twice as likely to roll over in a crash as passenger cars, but offer no more protection than a standard passenger car.