Buckle up for all Memorial Day Weekend travel plans
On behalf of of Frederick & Hagle posted in Car Accidents on Tuesday, May 21, 2013.
This weekend marks a major kickoff for summer travelers, and authorities across Illinois want to make sure that all of these riders safely make it home. For Champaign residents hitting the open road for any Memorial Day Weekend travel plans, buckling up will be imperative to mitigate both the risk of serious injury in a car accident, and the risk of a ticket.
Authorities across Illinois and the rest of the country will be out in swarms looking to enforce seat belt laws in the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign that began yesterday and will extend into June. Patrols will be increased to ensure that all drivers and passengers alike are buckled.
Buckling up is one of the easiest actions a driver or passenger can take to increase their safety. The odds of suffering catastrophic injury or death in the event of a car accident seriously increase if a passenger is not buckled up.
Patrols will extend into the night, as there are substantial driving risks during dark hours. An increased number of drunk drivers and reduced visibility can easily result in a devastating accident for drivers that are not buckled. In fact, it is reported that more fatal accident victims are not buckled up as the day turns into night. In Illinois alone, between 2008 and 2012:
- 36 percent of fatal crash victims killed between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. were not buckled up
- 43 percent of fatal crash victims killed after 4 p.m. were not buckled up
The rate of victims that are not buckled and die in a car accident only increases throughout the night. Day or night, buckling up is imperative for the safety of all in Illinois.
Source: Fox2now.com, “‘Click It or Ticket’ Seatbelt Enforcement Begins,” Kim Hudson, May 20, 2013
