The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission's Click It or Ticket campaign for the Thanksgiving season is now under way. State troopers and other Louisiana law enforcement officers will be looking for drivers and passengers who refuse to wear a seat belt while on the state's roads through next weekend.
“Generally theres a lot of people on the roads during the holidays and so we find that when we do have this added awareness of greater enforcement that people tend to behave better on the road," LHSC spokesman Greg Fischer said.
An LHSC report found at least 55 percent of adults killed in a vehicle crash in Louisiana last year were not properly wearing seat belts.
Fischer says a first offense for anyone not wearing a seatbelt is $50. Fines for repeat offenders are $75 a pop. Fischer says the LHSC's latest observational survey found fewer than 15 percent of people in Louisiana go unbuckled.
“When you take that 15 percent of people that are not wearing their seatbelts about half of those people are the ones that are involved in all the fatal crashes that we have every year," Fischer said.
During Thanksgiving weekend last year, there were 10 fatalities and more than 100 accidents with serious injuries involving people not properly restrained.
Freeman says the state’s passenger safety law requires everyone in a vehicle whether they’re driving or in the back seat to be properly restrained. He says a ticket is better than a tragedy.
“The best thing you can do for yourself and it’s just so easy is to take care of yourself and for the people that you love that are riding with you, just make sure that they buckle up. It could save your holiday if something doesn’t go well for you," Fischer said.
The campaign runs through next Saturday.
