Hawaii’s seatbelt usage rate jumped to 97.9 percent, the highest in the nation, during the May “Click it or Ticket” campaign, the state Department of Transportation said today.

Last year, Hawaii’s usage rate was 97 percent.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administation estimates the national seatbelt usage rate is 83 percent.
The DOT said Maui County motorists led the state with a 98.4 percent usage rate. Kauai (98.3 percent) was second, followed by Hawaii County (98.1 percent) and Honolulu (97.7 percent).
Police statewide issued 2,456 seatbelt violations tickets during the campaign, which ran May 18-31. Police also issued 159 child safety seat citations.
Honolulu police issued 1,457 seatbelt and 104 child safety seat citations.
The number of statewide seatbelt citations was down from 4,387 last year. Honolulu police issued 3,907 seatbelt citations last year.
“Click it or Ticket” is a collaborative effort between the state departments of Transportation, Health and Education; county police; the federal Highway and Motor Carrier Safety administrations; and safe community coalitions.