Arlington Police Promote Thanksgiving Click It Or Ticket Campaign

ARLINGTON, VA — This Thanksgiving holiday, the Arlington County Police Department is again taking part in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration high-visibility Click It or Ticket seat belt awareness campaign. From Nov. 19 to Nov. 30, officers will target vehicle passengers who fail to buckle up, in an effort to reduce the number of highway fatalities.

Virginia law requires those under the age of 18 to be properly secured in a safety belt or child safety seat, no matter where they are sitting in the vehicle, and the driver is responsible for making sure this happens. Also, state law requires those in the front seat of vehicles to be properly restrained, regardless of age, and those 18 and older can be ticketed.

According to the NHTSA, there were 361 passenger vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes across the nation during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in 2021 (6 p.m. on Nov. 24, to 5:59 a.m. on Nov. 29). Half of those victims were unrestrained.,>

Not wearing a seat belt proved to be deadly at any time of the day during the holiday weekend: 52% of those killed in nighttime crashes did not use a seat belt, and 46% of those killed in daytime crashes also were unbuckled.,>

Wearing a seat belt is one of the most effective things anyone can do to prevent injury or death in a crash, the NHTSA said.,>

To learn more about the NHTSA Click It or Ticket campaign, visit their website.
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