Bella Vista Police remind drivers to Click It or Ticket

n Enforcement campaign to begin Nov. 19.

BELLA VISTA -- 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.

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel times of the year. With millions of Americans on the road traveling 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 passengers. If they spot you, they will pull you over and issue a ticket.

Wearing a seatbelt is the single most effective thing to help prevent you from injury or death in a vehicle crash. According to Arkansas State Police, more than half of the people who died in a fatal traffic crash during Thanksgiving 2016 were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

"This year, our officers will 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 ticketed," said police chief James Graves.

This year's campaign will run from Nov. 19 through Nov. 25.

In Arkansas, the law requires each driver and front seat passenger to be wearing a seatbelt, and violations are punishable by a fine.

During the 2016 Thanksgiving weekend (6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 23, to 5:59 a.m. Monday, Nov. 28), 341 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes nationwide. Tragically, 49 percent of those killed were unbuckled, representing a decrease in seatbelt 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 seatbelt.

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

General News on 11/21/2018