Kenilworth PD Urges Drivers to Buckle Up this Holiday Season

Holidays can be expensive, so try to avoid adding to the cost of the season by getting a ticket for driving without a seatbelt.

"I urge everyone driving on Illinois roadways this holiday season to drive carefully, do not drive impaired and, most importantly, buckle up each and every trip, day or night," said Sgt. Dave Miller of the Kenilworth Police Department. "Remember, the best defense against an impaired or distracted driver is a safety belt."

Illinois has a 92.9 percent daytime safety belt usage according to the Illinois Transportation Division of Safety. Those rates go down at night, which is also the time when the highest percentage of motorists die in alcohol-related crashes. During the 2010 Thanksgiving holiday, 15 people died in traffic crashes; nine of the incidents involved alcohol. More than 700 people were injured on the road.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, regular safety belt use is the single greatest way to reduce traffic fatalities. When used properly, lap and shoulder belts reduce the risk of fatalities by 45 percent and the chance of serious injury by 50 percent. Teens and young adults are the least likely to buckle up.

"To lose a loved one is a terrible thing to experience, but to lose one's life when it might have been saved by taking a brief moment to buckle a safety belt is truly senseless," Miller said.

Everyone in a car, regardless of age or seating position, will be required to wear a safety belt as of Jan. 1, 2012.