Law enforcement agencies across Kansas are preparing to mobilize in the days leading up to Memorial Day Weekend.
Do you buckle up – every trip every time? Yes? Excellent!
No? Why not? You do know buckling up is the simplest thing that you can do to save your life, right? The. Simplest. Thing.
Did you know that if you (the driver) put on your seat belt, that your front seat passengers will to? It’s true about 98% of the time.
Your choice clearly makes a difference.
According to the Saline County Sheriff’s Office, beginning this Friday, and continuing through May 31st, travelers can expect increased police presence on county roadways as the Saline County Sheriff’s Office joins 180 other law enforcement agencies in aggressively enforcing Kansas occupant restraint and other traffic laws as part of the 2021 Kansas Click It or Ticket campaign. This activity is supported by a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT).
Here is the aim of the Click It or Ticket campaign: to drastically reduce the number of preventable deaths and injuries that occur when unbelted drivers and passengers are involved in traffic crashes. About 345 persons are involved in 170 crashes each day in Kansas. Only 7% of those that are unbelted are likely to escape without injury. Half of all fatalities occur among those who are not wearing a seat belt.
May 21-31 drivers will be met with extra enforcement of both the Kansas Safety Belt Use Act and the Kansas Child Passenger Safety Act. These statutes require that all vehicle occupants must be appropriately restrained.
In addition, Kansas law prohibits persons under the age of 14 from riding in any part of a vehicle not intended for carrying passengers, such as a pickup bed. For answers to child safety restraint questions and the location of the nearest safety seat fitting station, or safety seat technician, contact the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Office at 1-800-416-2522, or write [email protected]. For information on the car seat distribution program visit www.safekidskansas.org
Kansas’ overall adult seat belt compliance rate is 85% and ranges, by county, from 62% to 97%, with occupants in rural counties generally less likely to buckle up than those in urban counties. Almost two-thirds of Kansas’ fatality crashes occur on rural roadways while these roads account for only one-third of all crashes.
Sheriff Soldan said, “First, I want to thank the drivers that take their safety seriously and buckle up every trip.”
Soldan continued “I also want people to know that day or night, the Saline County Sheriff’s Office is committed to aggressively ticketing violators of adult seat belt and child safety laws, as well as other traffic infractions, which make the need for occupant restrains so necessary. ”
So, buckle up. It’s a simple thing really, and it just might save your life