Save a life (yours) by buckling up

Published 12:03 am Saturday, November 21, 2015

Louisiana law requires all occupants of a vehicle be properly restrained, including those in rear seats.

Officers are going to be treating that as more than a frivolous threat, as the seat-belt rule in Louisiana is a primary enforcement law. Officers can AND SHOULD stop and ticket anyone they spot not buckled up.

To do so, law enforcement officials throughout the state are mobilizing the Click it or Ticket campaign because Thanksgiving Week is right around the corner.

The campaign calls for extra police, deputies and Louisiana State Police troopers to patrol the roads Sunday through Nov. 29 with a watchful eye toward enforcing the state’s mandatory seat belt law.

Unfortunately, the police presence is needed to reduce the number of traffic fatalities during America’s most popular travel holiday.

Last year, over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday, there were 424 fatal and injury crashes.

Twelve people died, and 710 were injured.

“It couldn’t have been a happy Thanksgiving for any of the victims or their families,” said Louisiana Highway Safety Commission Executive Director John LeBlanc.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports 58 percent — or six out of 10 — of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes over the long Thanksgiving weekend in 2013 were not wearing seat belts. At night, the statistic is even worse: 64 percent of the occupants killed were unbuckled.

The increase in traffic over holidays is a major factor in the rise in crashes.

“The odds of a crash go up as traffic increases, which makes it even more critical that every person in a vehicle buckle up,” LeBlanc said.

The Safety Administration estimates proper seat belt use reduces the risk of fatal injury to front seat passengers by 45 percent, and the risk of moderate to serious injury by 50 percent.

Please wear your seat belt this Thanksgiving Week and every week, and don’t be aggravated if you get a ticket for not wearing one. That fine might save your life.