LaredoBuzz.Com

Courtesy Raul Leal,

(Laredo, Tx)-This week the Laredo Police Department hosted the annual Laredo Click It or Ticket (CIOT) event in observance of the Texas Department of Transportation’s 12^th annual Click It or Ticket seat belt safety education and enforcement campaign statewide. This event could not been made possible without the collaboration from the Laredo Police Department, Webb County Sheriff Department, Webb County Constables, Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Department of Transportation Traffic Safety Division. 

 The President Lyndon Baines Johnson-themed press conference complete with an audio clip of the president’s voice and comments made when he enacted the  National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966 was its first of a kind for Laredo and the state of Texas. Also, a gigantic banner (25”x17”) with historic and picturesque photos from the past graced the front façade of the Laredo Police Department building.

 In President Johnson’s audio snippet, he said, “In this century, more than one million, five hundred thousand of our fellow citizens have died on our streets and our highways. Nearly three times as many Americans as we lost in all of our wars. We are going to cut down this senseless loss of lives. We are going to cut down pointless injuries. We are going to cut down the heartbreak. Safety is no luxury item. It’s no optional extra. It must be a normal cost of doing business.”

 This year marks the 45^th anniversary of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act; landmark legislation signed into law by Texas native son Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 requiring manufacturers to put seat belts in all vehicles starting in 1968, 45 years ago this year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration notes that prior to the Johnson era laws requiring seat belts and highway safety improvements, more than 50,000 people routinely died on the nation’s roadways annually. By 2011 the number dropped to just over 32,000.