The Arkansas law enforcement community is urging motorists to buckle up during a national Click It or Ticket high-visibility enforcement effort by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The national seat belt campaign, which coincides with the Memorial Day holiday, runs from May 22 to June 4.
“We want seat belt use to be an automatic habit for drivers and passengers alike,” said Arkansas Public Safety Secretary Colonel Mike Hagar. “It’s not only the safe thing to do — it’s the law. During the Click It or Ticket campaign, we’ll be working with our fellow law enforcement officers across local and state lines to ensure the message gets out. Buckling up is the simplest thing you can do to limit injury or save your life during a crash. We see the results of not wearing a seat belt all the time. We see the loss of life. So often, tragedy could have been prevented by just wearing a seat belt.”
According to NHTSA, there were 11,813 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the United States in 2021. In that same year, 57 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed at night (6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m.) were not wearing their seat belts. That’s why nighttime enforcement is an important focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign. Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations both day and night.
