Benton, AR —This Thanksgiving, The Saline County Sheriff’s Office is teaming up with State and local law enforcement agencies across the country to participate with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on a high-visibility Click It or Ticket campaign to work toward reducing the number of fatalities that occur when vehicle passengers fail to buckle up.

 Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel times of the year. 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 Saline County drivers and passengers get the message to wear their seat belts. The campaign combines powerful messages about seat belt safety with increased patrolling for all unbuckled motorists.

“It has been shown time and time again in multiple studies over the years that traffic collision fatalities are effectively reduced by proper seat belt use by drivers and passengers,” said Saline County Sheriff Rodney Wright. “During the Thanksgiving holiday of 2016, roughly half of the drivers killed in vehicle collisions were not wearing seat belts.  Our efforts while participating in the Click It or Ticket Campaign are aimed to reduce that percent and help make Saline County safer.”

In Arkansas, the law requires “each driver and front seat passenger in any motor vehicle operated on a street or highway in this state shall wear a properly adjusted and fastened seat belt properly secured to the vehicle.”  Violations are punishable by a fine of $70.00.

For more information about traveling safely this Thanksgiving, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/campaign/click-it-or-ticket.