Buckle Up Thanksgiving Week, Los Alamitos, OCSD Reminds

LOS ALAMITOS, CA — What's the first thing you do when you sit inside your car? adjust the radio? fix the seat so it's just right? or buckle your safety belt and remember that your passengers are also buckled up? This week, more people than ever will be on the roadways during the busiest travel week of the year, according to AAA reports.

While a much-anticipated Thanksgiving meal may encourage a loosening of the belt a notch or two, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Traffic Division is reminding residents there is one type of belt to always keep tight and secure: your seat belt.

This Thanksgiving, OCSD 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.

From Friday, Nov. 17, through Sunday, Nov. 26, members of the OCSD Traffic Division will be paying special mind to enforcing seat belt laws and educating drivers on the dangers of forgetting to buckle up.
Thanksgiving weekend, millions will hit the roads, eager to spend time with family and friends. It’s one of the busiest travel times of the year, and unfortunately more people on the roadways means the potential for more vehicle crashes.

During the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in 2015, there were 301 passenger vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes across the nation. Tragically, 50 percent of those killed were not buckled up at the time of their fatal crash.

Seat belts have been proven to be one of the best ways to save your life in a crash, yet many still don’t buckle up. Worse still, not wearing a seat belt is a habit that will pass on to impressionable youth, who in turn will think it’s safe to not buckle up.

Buckle up. Every trip. Every time.

Photo, courtesy Zach Meaney, via Unsplash.com