In Maryland, 52 percent of drivers killed at night last year failed to wear seat belts.

More than 600 people were killed in car crashes last year in the state; at least 180 lives could have been saved if they had buckled up.

These grim statistics were conveyed Thursday outside the Baltimore County Police Training Center in Dundalk, where officials from the State Highway Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Baltimore County Police Department joined forces to kick off Maryland’s 2008 “Click It or Ticket” campaign.

The national campaign, which combines local law-enforcement efforts with that of 10,000 officers across the country, was started this week. Like Maryland’s initiative, it intensifies enforcement of seat belt use between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

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Over the Memorial Day weekend, local and Maryland State Police will be on guard around the clock with beefed-up enforcement that includes seat belt checkpoints. Additionally, more than $7.5 million in state and national advertising will promote the benefits of seat belts.

“[I’ve seen] firsthand the tragic impact of motor vehicle

crashes on a regular basis, and there were quite a few times when I had to deliver those dreaded words that family members don’t want to hear,” said Vernon Betkey, chief of the Maryland Highway Safety Office.

“Motor vehicle crashes are nondiscriminatory. They know no social boundaries, they don’t discriminate by age, race, gender or religion.”

Betkey added that wearing seat belts costs nothing.

“The toll for not wearing a seat belt starts [with] a $25 citation and goes up from there — including injury and death,” he said.

Motorists are three times more likely to die in night crashes, and people between the ages of 4 and 34 are among those least likely to buckle up at night, according to the NHTSA.

Overall, the effectiveness of seat belts is indisputable. When worn correctly, they have been proven to reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger occupants by 45 percent, NHTSA says.

“In 2006, we believe, seat belts saved the lives of approximately 15,000,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator James Ports. “Because of law enforcement of seat belt use, it’s gone from 85 percent use in 2000 to 93.1 percent in 2007 — which is the highest seat belt use on the East Coast.”

Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson said that all across Maryland, hundreds of citations are written daily for seat belt violations. “Although most motorists in Maryland do buckle up, it’s clear that many people still don’t take belt laws seriously,” he said. “The ‘Click It or Ticket’ campaign is focused on saving lives, and the department is committed to enforcing seat belt use day and night.”

drowley@baltimoreexaminer.com