KEARNS/MAGNA, Utah, Nov. 21, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — The Unified Police Department Kearns and Magna precincts 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 this Thanksgiving.
The campaign aims to work toward reducing the number of fatalities that occur when vehicle passengers fail to buckle up, the Unified Police Department said in a news release Wednesday.
“Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel times of the year,” the news release said. “With millions of Americans on the road en route 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.”
The Click It or Ticket campaign is designed to save lives by making sure all Kearns and Magna drivers and passengers get the message to wear their seat belts. The campaign combines messages about seat belt safety with increased patrolling for all unbuckled motorists.
“Wearing a seat belt is the single most effective thing to help prevent you from injury or death in a vehicle crash,” said Officer Zack Young. “Tragically, over half of the people who died in a fatal traffic crash during Thanksgiving 2016 were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. This year, we’ll 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.”
In Utah, the law requires drivers and passengers to buckle up. Drivers are responsible for making sure passengers under 16 are buckled and violations are punishable by a citation and 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. Forty nine percent of those killed were unbuckled, representing a decrease in seat belt use compared to the same weekend in 2015, when 52 percent of those killed in traffic crashes were unrestrained. Night hours 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,” the news release said. “These deaths could have been completely prevented with the simple click of a seat belt.”
