As the unofficial start of summer, the Memorial Day holiday weekend is a busy time for Americans. Each year, the highways fill with families in vehicles, on their way to start their summer vacations.
To help keep drivers and passengers stay safe the Siloam Springs Police Department is reminding motorists to Click It or Ticket. Aimed at enforcing seat belt use to help keep families safe, the national seat belt campaign will take place May 21 through June 3, concurrent with the busy travel season.
"As the Memorial Day weekend approaches and the summer vacation season ramps up, we want to keep travelers safe, and make sure people are doing the one thing that can save them in a crash: buckling up," said Captain Derek Spicer. "If the enforcement crackdown wakes people up to the dangers of unrestrained driving, we'll consider it a success."
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly half (48%) of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2016 were unrestrained. At night from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., that number soared to 56 percent of those killed. That's why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement.
Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night.
Help us spread this life-saving message before one more friend or family member is killed because of this senseless inaction, a press release from the police department states.
"Seat belts save lives, and everyone--front seat and back, child and adult--needs to remember to buckle up--every trip, every time," it states.
For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot
General News on 05/23/2018