High School Sports and “Click It or Ticket”
As the 2021 fall season for our high school athletes comes to an end, many teams made it to the playoffs and will hit the road to face opponents further away.
While our area football and soccer teams still have two more weeks to compete locally before we will know for sure which of the teams will advance, the volleyball teams have already completed their regular season, and Mideastern Conference Tournament. Congratulations to the Ashley High School Screaming Eagles for claiming the Mideastern Conference Tournament title!
All of the volleyball teams of the four public New Hanover County high schools (Ashley, Hoggard, Laney, and New Hanover) advanced and will be playing in the first round of playoffs this coming Saturday, October 23, 2021.
This gives reason to remind our athletes, their parents, administrators, and other fans to be safe on the roads.
Based on data shown by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the use of seatbelts has improved over the past 30 years. While in the 1980s only about 10% of American wore a seatbelt, 90.7% of American did in 2019. Despite the improved used of seatbelts, nearly half (47%) of the 36,096 people who were fatally injured in serious motor vehicle accidents in 2019 did not wear a seat belt.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) has partnered up with the Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) for their “Click It or Ticket” initiative, in order to promote highway safety awareness to reduce the number of traffic crashes and fatalities in the state of North Carolina.
It is the law in North Carolina to fasten your seatbelt regardless of where you sit in the vehicle.
Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 20-135.2A seatbelt use is mandatory:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in G.S. 20-137.1, each occupant of a motor vehicle manufactured with seat belts shall have a seatbelt properly fastened about his or her body at all times when the vehicle is in forward motion on a street or highway in this State.
Schools are encouraged to promote the use of seatbelts at their sports events by Public Service Announcements, such as:
“#1: The Governor’s Highway Safety Program wants you to buckle up before heading home from the game tonight. Every seat, every time. This message is brought to you by GHSP’s Click It or Ticket program and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
#2: Don’t forget to buckle up before heading home from the game tonight. Every seat, every time. This message is brought to you by GHSP’s Click It or Ticket program and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
#3: Before heading home tonight, make sure every person in every seat is buckled North Carolina High School Athletic Association.”
Schools are also asked to promote the online Seat Belt Pledge to their student body, teachers, parents, fans, or anyone within their school and local community.
Let’s buckle up and enjoy the games!
By Jana H. Collins