Published: May 16, 2008 12:54 am            

Local law enforcement to launch ‘Click It or Ticket’

Enforcement blitz endeavors to save lives

Beginning Monday, expect to see more safety checkpoints than usual.

Motorists nationwide will be seeing the same rise in such roadway stoppages due to the National Click It or Ticket campaign designed to enforce seat belt use thereby saving lives.

“Research shows us that there is a problem with drivers and passengers not buckling up,” Meridian Police Department Capt. Rick McCary said. “Clearly this is an indication that these individuals are not taking the law seriously. That’s why we’ll be out in force making sure that all passengers, in all vehicles, are buckled up – day and night.”

McCary, along with Lauderdale County Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun, Chief Clarence Hoffman of the NAS Security Department, Chief Ben Langston of the Marion Police Department and Mississippi Highway Patrol, Troop H Capt. Billy Mays all were on hand to show their support for the campaign, which will begin Monday and continue through June 1.

A special emphasis will be focused on nighttime driving habits. Approximately 15,000 passenger vehicle occupants died in traffic crashes between the nighttime hours of 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) – and 64 percent of those passenger vehicle occupants killed were NOT wearing their seat belts at the time of the fatal crashes.

Wednesday night a Lauderdale County man lost his life in a one-vehicle accident when his truck slammed into an embankment. Preliminary reports stated the man was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

Regular seat belt use is the single most effective way to protect people and reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes. In 2006, 72 percent of passenger vehicle occupants involved in a fatal crash who were buckled up survived the crashes, and that when worn correctly, seat belts have proven to reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent – and by 60 percent in pickup trucks, SUVs, and minivans.

Yet nearly one in five Americans (18 percent nationally) still fail to regularly wear their seat belts when driving or riding in motor vehicles.

“Seat belts clearly save lives. But unfortunately, too many folks still need a tough reminder, so we are going to be out in force buckling down on those who are not buckled up,” said McCary. “Wearing your seat belt costs you nothing, but not wearing it certainly will. So unless you want to risk a ticket, or worse – your life — please remember to buckle up day and night."

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.