Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Benton Police Department participated in the annual Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement campaign, successfully bringing awareness to area residents of the importance of buckling up.
“We feel this year’s campaign was successful in spreading the message regarding the importance of seat belt use,” said Captain Kevin Russell. “It’s a proven fact that seat belts save lives, and we simply wanted to draw people’s attention to that fact.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 341 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes nationwide during the 2016 Thanksgiving weekend. Tragically, 49 percent of those killed were not buckled up.
“The bottom line is seat belts save lives,” said Russell. “Issuing tickets is never the goal, but when lives are at stake, we do what it takes. We’ll continue to spread the message about the importance of seat belt safety over the holidays and every other day.”
In Arkansas, the law requires all front seat passengers, not just drivers, to be properly buckled up. It also requires all children less than 15 years of age to be properly secured in the vehicle and children less than 6 years of age and weighing less than 60 pounds to be restrained in a child passenger safety seat. If the driver has a restricted license, all passengers in the vehicle must be properly buckled up.
For more information regarding Click It or Ticket or travel safety, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/campaign/click-it-or-ticket.
