LITTLE ROCK - Many people travel during the Thanksgiving holiday. Inevitably, the festivities are cut short for some by a motor vehicle crash.
Seatbelt use is more important than ever and that's why Arkansas law enforcement agencies are reminding all drivers and their passengers to buckle up.
Beginning this week, the annual U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's national Click It or Ticket enforcement plan begins and continue for two weeks. The campaign runs concurrent with the upcoming travel season that typically includes an uptick in traffic volume.
"During the Click It or Ticket campaign, we'll join forces with other law enforcement agencies across local and state lines to ensure the seatbelt safety message gets out to all drivers and passengers," said Colonel Bill Bryant, director of the Arkansas State Police and the Governor's Highway Safety Representative. "The loss of life and devastating injuries that could've been prevented with the simple click of a seatbelt is saddening when all anyone had to do was obey the law."
According to NHTSA, in 2018 there were 9,778 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the United States. That same year, 56% of passenger vehicle occupants killed at night were not wearing their seatbelts.
The statistic associated with nighttime travel has prompted the Click It or Ticket campaign to place added emphasis on evening enforcement.
For more information about highway safety during Thanksgiving, go online to 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 TZDArkansas.org online.