The Fairfax County Police Department is holding a “Click It or Ticket” campaign from now through Sunday to educate people about child seatbelt laws. Police are cracking down on drivers who are not buckled up. The department also wants to emphasize the importance of children wearing seat belts at all times while riding in an automobile.

FCPD is joining with other state and local law enforcement officers and highway safety advocates across the country to help save more lives by enforcing seat belt laws around the clock during this campaign.

In 2010, 61 percent of the 10,647 passenger vehicle occupants who were killed nationally in motor vehicle traffic crashes overnight (6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m.) were not wearing their seatbelts at the time of the fatal crash, compared to 42 percent during the daytime hours, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“There are a lot of misconceptions about when children need to be seat-belted in a car — all the time — which leads to tickets being issued,” said PFC Michael Mittiga of the Mount Vernon Police District’s Selective Enforcement Team in a recent email. “Warnings are not generally issued for child seatbelt violations so I want to get the information out ahead of the ticket storm.”

Mittiga said FCPD are using social media, local media, traffic message boards and word-of-mouth to get the educational material and information to the public.

The goal of the campaign is to save lives, according to a recent press release. The department is encouraging people to be sure to secure seat belts for themselves and children at all times when in an automobile.

“Child safety seats and booster seats are not enough to protect a child if they are not securely fastened or used in conjunction with the seatbelt,” Mittiga said. “Police find many children simply sitting in a booster seat without a seatbelt during traffic stops.  Parents seem to think this is enough.”

Each district station will have a different event throughout the campaign to inform people about the importance of wearing a seatbelt. For more on the national Click It or Ticket mobilization, visit www.nhtsa.gov.