Click it or Ticket is back

Northwest Arkansas law enforcement officials are warning drivers they will be stopped if they are not wearing a seat belt.

Benton and Washington counties' sheriff's offices and the Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville police departments will join agencies across the country for the 2017 Click It or Ticket campaign. It will run from today to June 4 as summer kicks off and families gear up for vacations.

This Memorial Day weekend, travel traffic volume is expected to be the highest in a dozen years for the holiday, according to the AAA. A vast majority, about 34.6 million, of travelers are planning to hit the road.

"The expected spike in Memorial Day travel mirrors the positive growth seen throughout the travel industry this year," Bill Sutherland, AAA senior vice president said in a news release. "Higher confidence has led to more consumer spending, and many Americans are choosing to allocate their extra money on travel this Memorial Day."

The National Safety Council estimates more than 400 people will be killed in accidents this weekend.

The Highway Safety agency reports regular seat belt use is the most effective way to protect people and reduce fatalities. Its research shows when lap and shoulder belts are used properly, the risk of fatal injury to front seat passengers is reduced 45 percent and the risk of moderate to serious injury is reduced 50 percent.

"It's pretty amazing. We go to vehicle accidents that appear very bad and we pull up and go 'Oh my,' but realize the person driving just walked away, and the reason is they have a seat belt on," said Becky Stewart, chief at Central EMS in Fayetteville. "Nearly every time they walk away from a bad accident, it's because they have a seat belt on. The kids are a lot better about that than some older folks who didn't learn that habit when they started to drive."

Seat belt usage has increased by about 20 percentage points to 90 percent from 2000 to 2016, according to the agency. Still, nearly half of the 22,441 passengers killed in car crashes were not buckled up in 2015.

In Benton County, 20 people were not wearing seat belts when they died in car accidents in 2015, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

"Our law enforcement personnel see firsthand the loss of life when people refuse to buckle up," Sgt. Shannon Jenkins said in the release. "It's such a simple thing, and it should be an automatic next step after sitting down in a vehicle. We want to keep our community members safe, and make sure people are doing the one thing that can save them in a crash: buckling up."

The number of those killed who were not buckled rises to 57 percent in accidents from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m. That's why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement, according to the release, though officers will give tickets day and night.

"Prior to the enactment of Act 308 of 2009, the law was considered a secondary offense, meaning a violator stop would have had to be made for a primary offense such as speeding, failure to yield, careless or prohibited driving, etc," said Bill Sadler, Arkansas State Police public information officer. "Act 308 made a seatbelt violation a primary offense for enforcement purposes."

The state law requires every driver and front seat passenger -- with few exceptions -- in any motor vehicle on a street or highway to wear a properly adjusted and fastened seat belt that is also properly secured to the vehicle.

There is a difference between wearing your seat belt and wearing it properly, said Lt. Jeff Taylor of the Springdale Police Department. If someone is wearing only the lap part of a seat belt, for instance, it is still a violation, and that person can be pulled over.

"Please, help us spread this life-saving message before one more friend or family member is killed as a result of this senseless inaction. Seat belts save lives, and everyone -- front seat and back, child and adult -- needs to remember to buckle up, every trip, every time," Jenkins said.

NW News on 05/22/2017