Click It or Ticket: Safety Officials Urge Buckle-Up Ahead of Memorial Day Travel Surge

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Arkansas Highway Safety Office and the Arkansas State Police are urging drivers to buckle up ahead of a national Click It or Ticket campaign, which coincides with the Memorial Day holiday, which runs from May 19 through June 1.

One of the focuses of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement. NHTSA data shows a higher number of unrestrained passenger vehicle occupant fatalities happen at night. Also, seat belt use differs among females and males. Of the males killed in crashes in 2021, more than half were unrestrained. For females killed in crashes, 42 percent were not buckled up.

The goal of the enforcement campaign is to raise awareness about the risks of not wearing a seat belt, and if it succeeds in doing that, the mission will be considered successful. People are encouraged to remind their friends and family to always buckle up and to reevaluate their habits if they don’t use seat belts. This is a lifesaving message that needs to be spread before one more friend or family member is killed because of the senseless inaction. Seat belts save lives, and it’s vital for everyone, whether in the front or back seat, adult or child, to make buckling up a consistent habit.