Trumann, AR – This Thanksgiving, the Trumann Police Department is teaming up with the U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and law enforcement agencies across the country on a high-visibility Click It or Ticket mobilization to make sure all Thanksgiving travelers are wearing their seat belts.
Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel times of the year, when millions of Americans hit the road to spend time with friends and family. But more vehicles on the road equals potential for more crashes and more fatalities.
The Click It or Ticket campaign is designed to save lives by making sure all Trumann 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.
“Tragically, almost half of the people who died in a fatal traffic crash last Thanksgiving were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash,” said Chief Chadwick Henson. “This year, we will be making sure that all Thanksgiving travellers we see are wearing seat belts and that all violators will be pulled over.”
In Arkansas, the law requires all children under the age of fifteen years who are passengers in a motor vehicle to be buckled-up. Furthermore, children younger than six years of age and weighing less than sixty pounds must be restrained in approved safety seats. Violations are punishable by a fine of $90.00 and $145.00 respectively.
During the 2014 Thanksgiving holiday period (6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 26, to 5:59 a.m. on Monday, December 1), there were 341 passenger vehicle occupants killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes nationwide, and fifty percent of those killed were NOT wearing seat belts.
Some of these tragic deaths may have been prevented by seat belt use. NHTSA research indicates that proper seat belt use reduces the risk of fatal injury to front seat passengers by 45 percent, and the risk of moderate to serious injury by 50 percent.
In 2014, seat belts saved the lives of 12,802 passenger vehicle occupants. If seat belt use had been at 100 percent, an additional 2,814 people would still be alive this Thanksgiving.
“We see the devastation first-hand when people fail to buckle up in a crash, so whether you’re driving down the street, across town, or hundreds of miles away, you must wear your seat belt,” said Assistant Chief Jonathan Redman. “This Thanksgiving and every day of the year, remember: Click It or Ticket.”
For more information about traveling safely during Thanksgiving, please visit http://www.nhtsa.gov.
###
Press Release – TPD
Be the first to comment