The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department is reminding motorists to “Click It or Ticket” this month.

As part of the national seat belt enforcement campaign, law enforcement agencies across the nation are stepping up enforcement May 18 through 31, which includes Memorial Day weekend — one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly half of the 21,132 passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2013 were unrestrained. At night, from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., that number skyrocketed to 59 percent of those killed. Because of this, one focus of the “Click It or Ticket” campaign is nighttime enforcement.

Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night. In California, the minimum penalty for a seat belt violation is $161.

California statistics reveal that 500 unrestrained vehicle occupants in died 2013. Almost twice as many males were killed in crashes as compared to females, with lower belt use rates too.

Of the males killed in collisions in 2013, more than half — 54 percent — were unrestrained. For females killed in crashes, 41 percent were not buckled up.

For more information on the “Click It or Ticket” mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.