MONTGOMERY— A $360,000 grant awarded by Gov. Kay Ivey to Auburn University will help ensure Alabamians get the message to buckle up and drive safely on the state’s roads and highways.

The university’s Media Production Group will continue producing advertisements and conducting statewide media campaigns urging Alabamians to obey seat belt and other traffic safety laws. The efforts augment increased law enforcement patrols during busy travel periods like the “Click It or Ticket” Memorial Day traffic safety campaign.

“The combination of the special traffic safety campaigns, seat belt laws and highway safety awareness has helped increase the seat belt usage rate in Alabama to 92 percent,” Ivey said. “We must continue this momentum, and I am pleased to support this effort to remind everyone that our law enforcement officers are working tirelessly to increase safety on our roads and that if you are a dangerous driver, you will be caught.”

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grant from funds made available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Teaming up with state troopers, sheriff’s departments and police officers, ADECA uses special traffic campaigns like “Click It or Ticket” and “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” to encourage more motorists to comply with mandatory seatbelt laws. Additional grant funding helps pay overtime for additional law enforcement patrols targeting “hot spots” where traffic crashes often occur.

“Our state’s law enforcement officers work around the clock to increase safety on Alabama’s roads,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said. “With Gov. Ivey’s support, ADECA is pleased to continue supplementing the hard work of our law enforcement by urging all travelers to buckle up and drive safely on Alabama’s roads or risk being caught and ticketed.”

ADECA administers an array of programs supporting law enforcement and traffic safety, economic development, energy conservation, water resource management and recreation development.

Contact: Mike Presley or Jennifer Ardis Elmore