Full Notification

Hiram Police Officers Toughen Up on Seat Belt Enforcement
This Thanksgiving; Georgia Law Enforcement Launches Click It or Ticket Mobilization

Hiram, GA—This Thanksgiving, The Hiram Police Department is working around the clock to make sure Thanksgiving travelers are wearing their seat belts. They will team up with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and law enforcement agencies across the country 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.

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. Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel times of the year. 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 Georgia 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.

“Wearing a seat belt could truly be the difference between life and death,” said Sergeant Stephen Johnston. “Tragically, over half of the people who died in a fatal traffic crash during Thanksgiving 2015 were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. This year, we’ll be out in full force to ensure drivers and passengers alike are buckled up as they travel to their Thanksgiving destination. Violators will be pulled over and ticketed.”

In Georgia, the law requires all occupants in the front seats and any occupant under 18 in any seat to be properly restrained, and violations are punishable by citation.

During the 2015 Thanksgiving holiday period (6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 25, to 5:59 a.m. on Monday, November 30), there were 301 passenger vehicle occupants killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes nationwide, and 53 percent of those killed were NOT wearing seat belts.

Some of these tragic deaths may have been prevented by seat belt use. NHTSA research indicates that proper seat belt use reduces the risk of fatal injury to front seat passengers by 45 percent, and the risk of moderate to serious injury by 50 percent.

In 2015, seat belts saved the lives of 13,941 passenger vehicle occupants. If seat belt use had been at 100-percent, an additional 2,804 people would still be alive this Thanksgiving.

“Every day, we see the effects of unbuckled vehicle crashes,” said Sergeant Johnston. “Whether you’re driving cross-country or across the street, you must wear your seat belt. This Thanksgiving and every day of the year, remember: Click It or Ticket.”

For more information about traveling safely this Thanksgiving, please visit www.nhtsa.gov