This Thanksgiving,

Law Enforcement Reminds Drivers to Click It or Ticket

[St Francis Co, AR]—This Thanksgiving, law enforcement agencies across the country are teaming up with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on a high-visibility Click It or Ticket campaign to work toward reducing the number of fatalities that occur when vehicle passengers fail to buckle up between November 19 and November 25, 2018.

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel times of the year. With millions of Americans on the road en route to visit friends and family for the Thanksgiving holiday, it is more essential than ever to ensure all vehicle passengers are buckled up. With more vehicles on the roads, the chances of being involved in a vehicle crash increase greatly. For this reason, law enforcement will be patrolling the streets, looking for unbuckled drivers and passengers. If they spot you, they will pull you over and likely issue a ticket.

The Click It or Ticket campaign is designed to save lives by making sure all drivers and passengers get the message to wear their seat belts. The campaign combines powerful messages about seat belt safety with increased patrolling for all unbuckled motorists.

“Wearing a seat belt is the single most effective thing to help prevent you from injury or death in a vehicle crash,” said Captain Eddie Adamson “Tragically, over half of the people who died in a fatal traffic crash during Thanksgiving 2016 were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. This year, we’ll be out in full force to ensure drivers and passengers alike are buckled up as they travel to their Thanksgiving destinations. Those disobeying the law will be pulled over and likely ticketed,” Adamson added. “We are going to have officers working overtime under the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) doing nothing but addressing those who are not wearing seatbelts or using child restraints.”

In Arkansas the law requires each driver and front seat passenger in any motor vehicle operated on a street or highway in this state to wear a properly adjusted and fastened seat belt properly secured to the vehicle, and violations are punishable by a fine of $50.

During the 2016 Thanksgiving weekend (6 p.m. Wednesday, November 23, to 5:59 a.m. Monday, November 28), 341 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes nationwide. Tragically, 49 percent of those killed were unbuckled, representing a decrease in seat belt use compared to the same weekend in 2015, when 52 percent of those killed in traffic crashes were unrestrained. Nighttime proved even more deadly, with 55 percent of Thanksgiving weekend crashes occurring at night. Much like drunk driving, these deaths represent needless tragedies for families across America. These deaths could have been completely prevented with the simple click of a seat belt.

“Every day, we see the effects of unbuckled vehicle crashes,” said Sheriff Bobby May “Whether you’re driving cross-country or across the street, you must wear your seat belt. This Thanksgiving and every day of the year, remember: Click It or Ticket.”

For more information about traveling safely this Thanksgiving, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/campaign/click-it-or-ticket.