Buckle Up to Avoid a Ticket and Arrive Alive

Osceola Police Department –

Nearly one in four Missourians still fail to regularly wear their safety belts when driving or riding in a motor vehicle.

Among those least likely to buckle up: young males, pickup truck drivers and their passengers, people who live in rural areas, and nighttime drivers.

Osceola Police Department announced today they are joining with law enforcement May 19 – June 1 for an aggressive national “Click It or Ticket” mobilization to crack down on Missouri’s safety belt law violators and to reduce highway fatalities.

Failure to regularly wear a safety belt can be deadly. In 2007, a driver in a Missouri traffic crash has a 1 in 32 chance of being killed if they were not wearing a seat belt. In cases where the driver wore a seat belt, their chance of being killed was 1 in 1,309.

“Safety belts clearly save lives. But unfortunately too many folks still need a tough reminder, so we are going to be out in force buckling down on those who are not buckled up.” Said Chief Richard Gardner. “Unless you want to risk a ticket, or worse – your life, you need to remember to ‘Click It or Ticket’ day and night, and Arrive Alive.”

Chief Gardner said regular safety belt use is the single most effective way to protect people and reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes.

For more information on the national “Click It or Ticket” mobilization, please visit www.buckleupamerica.org.

For more information on Missouri seatbelt usage, visit www.saveMOlives.com.