Press release from Trumann PD:
TRUMANN, Ark. – With Thanksgiving being one of the busiest travel times of the year, the chances of being involved in a vehicle crash are greatly increased. Everyone wants you to get to the Thanksgiving table safely this year, so it’s critical to practice safe driving habits, like buckling your seat belt.
During the Thanksgiving holiday, the Trumann Police Department is teaming up with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on a high-visibility Click It or Ticket enforcement campaign, November 25th to December 1st, to work toward reducing the number of fatalities that occur when drivers and passengers fail to buckle up. If they spot you, they will pull you over and issue a ticket.
During the 2017 Thanksgiving weekend (6 p.m. Wednesday, November 22, to 5:59 a.m. Monday, November 27), 365 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes nationwide. Nighttime proved even more deadly, with 57% of Thanksgiving weekend crashes occurring at night. Wearing a seat belt is the single most effective thing anyone can do to prevent injury or death in a vehicle crash. The Click It or Ticket campaign combines powerful messages about seat belt safety with increased patrolling for all unbuckled motorists.
“Our law enforcement personnel see the effects of unbuckled driving every day, and it’s a tragic, preventable loss of life and cause of injury,” said Captain Gary W. Henry Sr. “Whether you’re driving cross-country or across the street, you must wear your seat belt. The bottom line is this: That seat belt may very well mean the difference between life and death. This Thanksgiving, and every day of the year, remembers: Click It or Ticket.”
In Trumann, AR, the law requires each driver and front seat passenger in any motor vehicle operated on a street or highway shall wear a properly adjusted and fastened seat belt properly secured to the vehicle, and violations are punishable by a fine of $65.00.
For more information about traveling safely this Thanksgiving, please visit www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov/get-materials/seat-belts/click-it-or-ticket/thanksgiving-weekend.
Arkansas State Police
This is a press release from ASP who are also participating in the campaign:
The number of Thanksgiving holiday travelers will begin to grow starting this weekend as millions of Americans hit the road, eager to spend time with friends and family in places near and far. It’s one of the busiest holiday travel periods every year, and unfortunately more people on the roadways means there is a greater potential for an increase in traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities.
During the Thanksgiving holiday, Arkansas law enforcement officers from local, county and state departments are teaming up with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on a high-visibility Click It or Ticket enforcement campaign set to begin Monday, November 25th and continuing through Sunday, December 1st. The goal is to reduce the number of fatalities that occur when drivers and passengers fail to buckle up. If you’re spotted not buckled up by Arkansas State Troopers or other law enforcement officers, you risk getting a ticket.
The Click It or Ticket campaign is designed to save lives by making sure all Arkansas drivers and passengers get the message to wear their seat belts. The campaign combines powerful messages about seat belt safety with stepped-up patrols by law enforcement officers, many of them working exclusively to identify seat belt law violators.
In addition to patrolling all U.S. and state two-lane highways, Arkansas State Troopers will participate in an intensified enforcement operation along Interstate 40 during the most heavily traveled hours of the Thanksgiving holiday from 10 AM to 10 PM on Wednesday, November 27th and Sunday, December 1st.
During the 2017 Thanksgiving travel period (6 PM, Wednesday, November 22nd, until 5:59 AM, Monday, November 27th), 365 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes nationwide. Evening hours proved to be the most deadly with 57 percent of crashes occurring during nighttime hours.
“Wearing a seat belt is the single most effective precaution drivers and passengers can take to prevent injury or death as the result of a motor vehicle crash,” says Colonel Bill Bryant, Director of the Arkansas State Police and Governor’s Highway Safety Representative.
“Too many drivers and their passengers choose to ignore the facts and don’t comply with the state’s primary seat belt law,” Colonel Bryant said. “Tragically, this decision leads to an increase in injuries and deaths on the highway.”
Colonel Bryant reminds drivers, “Whether you’re driving cross-country or across the street, you must wear your seat belt and it may prove to be the life or death difference for you and your family.”
NHTSA estimates 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 2016, approximately 14,668 people survived crashes because they were buckled up. If everyone had worn their seat belts that year, as many as 2,456 lives might have been saved.
For more information about highway safety during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, please visit http://www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov or call the Arkansas Highway Safety Office at (501) 618-8136. For more on Arkansas’ ongoing Toward Zero Deaths campaign to eliminate preventable traffic fatalities, visit http://www.TZDArkansas.org.
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