Regional Law Enforcement Liaison (LEL)

The Secretary has been asked to work with Congress, the States, and other concerned groups to develop initiatives to increase safety belt use and reduce the incidence of impaired driving. NHTSA has established ambitious goals for these initiatives, a safety belt usage goal of 89 percent and a reduction of alcohol related fatalities to 39 percent by 2013. These challenging goals can only be met with the full cooperation of law enforcement agencies, working together during identified mobilization and crackdown periods throughout the year and coupled with a sustained publicity campaign. Local agencies and associations are familiar with this effort and can assist delivering to the public a strong and effective campaign. The models for the enforcement components of the national campaign plans include "Click It Or Ticket" (CIOT) for safety belt enforcement about the necessity of safety belt use and an impaired driving program referred to as "the Crackdown". The impaired driving campaign was unveiled for the August/September 2006 Crackdown, sending strong messages throughout the Nation, States and communities discouraging impaired driving and increasing the threat of citations for those disobeying these laws. To encourage law enforcement agencies to actively engage in highway traffic safety activities, the agency has defined a process identified as Data Driven Approaches To Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS). The Regional LELs have taken the lead in promoting to local law enforcement agencies the benefits of adopting of this operational model as a means for deterring crime in their localities.