Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C./ERR -- Marines and sailors who play the odds by not wearing their seat belts will have the cards stacked against them when law enforcement officials around the country join together in the national seat belt enforcement blitz, ?Click it or Ticket,? this week.?The essence of the campaign is to save lives,? said Capt. Don Edens, Depot safety officer.?[The Marine Corps] loses a lot of Marines each year due to mishaps,? said Col. Henry Dewey, director of the Marine Corps Safety Division. According to Dewey, of the 65 off-duty fatalities in motor vehicles, well over 50 percent were not wearing their seat belts. It?s not just deaths that hurt the Marine Corps either, but career ending injuries.?We also put out 2,000 Marines in disabilities,? said Dewey.The campaign is a one-two punch of education and enforcement, timed to correlate with the Thanksgiving holiday, when many will be on the road. Depot safety grams have already been distributed encouraging seat belt safety. In addition to battalion level safety events, Marines have an opportunity to discuss their views on how to increase seat belt use among their peers in discussion groups. The opinions of junior Marines will be particularly looked at, as they are the primary group for risky behavior.Enforcement is the next step. From Monday to Wednesday, vehicle checkpoints enforcing seat belt use will be posted around the Depot. ?If the education doesn?t work, then we?ll go with enforcement,? said Edens. Enforcement will be strict. For active duty personnel, the punishment for a first-time offense is 30 days suspension of driving privileges aboard base. Those on their second offense, will be suspended for 90 days. Three-time offenders will not be allowed to drive aboard the Depot for six months.Not wearing a seat belt has the potential of having more adverse affects than just losing driving privileges. Those in automobile accidents have a 50 percent higher chance of surviving a wreck than someone who isn?t wearing a seat belt. Parris Island will not be alone in the campaign. More than 230 state, federal and military law enforcement agencies will be participating in the campaign. Buckling up tilts the odds in service members? favor, not just during the campaign, but anytime while driving a vehicle.?This is the best thing to do to protect yourselves and your family,? said Edens.