As families make plans for summer vacations, law enforcement officers urge motorists to buckle up.
State, county and city law enforcement officers will devote additional patrols May 22-June 4 as part of the Click It or Ticket seatbelt enforcement campaign.
"Our state troopers see the personal and tragic results when motorists fail to buckle up, and there are terrible injuries and loss of life," said Col. Bill Bryant, director of Arkansas State Police and the Governor's highway safety representative. "It's such a simple thing, and it should be an automatic next step after sitting down in a vehicle-just buckle up."
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, almost half of the drivers and passengers killed in vehicle crashes in 2015 were not wearing seatbelts. The percentage of fatalities in this category increases at night.
The ASP Highway Safety Office urges everyone to wear seatbelts every trip, every time, day and night-especially during the upcoming holiday when more motorists will be on the road.
Arkansas state law requires all front-seat passengers, not just drivers, to buckle up. The law requires all children and teens younger than 15 to be properly secured in the vehicle. A child younger than 6 who weighs less than 60 pounds must be restrained in a child safety seat.
If the driver has a restricted license, all passengers in the vehicle must be wearing seatbelts or be in safety seats.
For more information about Click It or Ticket and how seatbelts save lives, visit nhtsa.gov/ciot or call the Arkansas Highway Safety Office at 501-618-8136. Information about Arkansas' ongoing Toward Zero Deaths campaign is at tzdarkansas.org.