This Thanksgiving, law enforcement agencies will ramp up patrols and be on the lookout for seat-belt violations. The Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau in the Iowa Department of Public Safety reminds Iowa motorists to click it or ticket this holiday season.
According to the National Highway Traffic safety Administration (NHTSA), 341 vehicle occupants were killed nationwide in traffic crashes during the 2014 Thanksgiving holiday, and 50 percent of those fatalities were not wearing seat belts.
In Iowa, five people were killed at Thanksgiving in 2015.
NHTSA reports that wearing a seat belt can reduce the risk of a fatal injury by 45 percent. Ejection from a vehicle is one of the most dangerous things that can happen to a person in a crash. Eighty percent of passenger vehicle occupants who were totally ejected from their vehicles were killed, while only 1 percent of seat belted occupants were totally ejected during a crash.
Who is less likely to wear a seat belt? In fatal crashes, males are more likely to be unbelted than females — 53 percent to 40 percent — and drivers aged 13-15 and 25-34 accounted for 59 percent of the fatalities in 2014, according to the NHTSA.
Wearing your seat belt is the single most effective way to save your life and the lives of your loved ones in the event of a crash. Failing to buckle up is dangerous and against the law.
Remember: Click it or ticket.
