With summertime and vacation plans kicking off comes an increase of vehicles on the roadways, and BNPD wants to ensure everyone is as safe as possible. As such, BNPD will participate in the national Click It or Ticket campaign beginning today and ending June 3, focusing on seatbelt violations. The campaign is designed to include Memorial Day, one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
“Every day, unbuckled motorists are losing their lives in vehicle crashes,” said Captain Kevin Russell. “As we approach Memorial Day weekend and the summer vacation season, we want to make sure people are doing the one thing that can save them in a crash—buckling up.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly half of all passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2016 were not wearing their seatbelt. At night, that number soared to 56 percent, a reason nighttime enforcement is a large focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign.
In Arkansas, 59 percent of deaths related to crashes were individuals who were unrestrained vehicle occupants (2010). Three out of four Arkansas teens aged 16-20 killed in a car crash were not wearing a seat belt. Additionally, almost twice as many males nationwide are killed in crashes as compared to females due to lower belt use rates. (NHTSA).
“If you ask the family members of those unrestrained people who were killed in crashes, they’ll tell you—they wish their loved ones had buckled up,” Russell said. “The bottom line is that seat belts save lives. If these enforcement crackdowns get people’s attention, and get them to buckle up, then we’ve done our job, and if you know someone who does not buckle up, please encourage them to do so- every trip, every time.”
BNPD officers will be working overtime to enforce this campaign with funds reimbursed by the federal Special Traffic Enforcement Program. For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.
