Memorial Day seatbelt citations tripled from last year
NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI (WCBI) – Judging from the numbers, some Mississippi drivers didn’t get the memo for law enforcement’s “Click it or ticket” and “Drive to Survive” initiatives.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, the number of tickets for seatbelt violations tripled from last year.
This can hopefully send a message to drivers, especially come big holiday weekends.
Local and state law enforcement are looking for people who aren’t wearing their seatbelts.
It’s no hard feelings on Highway Patrols part.
They’d just rather give you a ticket and make sure you wear your seatbelt than show up to a fatal accident.
“That was a major goal, a major thing we were looking for over the week,” said Master Sergeant, Criss Turnipseed with MHP.
The 2017 Memorial Day weekend racked up only 191 seatbelt citations.
This past weekend had 717.
Mississippi Highway Patrol hopes this sends a message to all drivers.
“There’s too many things out there on the road, too many distractions, too many other possible ways to get hurt or killed while you’re out driving on the highway,” Turnipseed said. “It just doesn’t make any sense not to wear your seatbelt.”
Turnipseed gives educational presentations to schools on the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt and says it can be disheartening.
“I’ll always poll the audience on who wears a seatbelt, and it’s still anywhere from 40 to 50% of the people that don’t wear their seatbelts,” he said. “I don’t understand it. It’s unacceptable.”
While the ticket price can be seen as inconvenient in the eyes of the driver, it’s only a small price to pay for potentially saving your life.
“There’s a high correlation between fatality accidents and seatbelt usage,” Turnipseed said. The majority of the things we see out here, working the roadways, crashes, you know, front end collisions, rollover crashes, thing like that, a seatbelt will definitely save your life.”
On top of tickets given to drivers without seatbelts, the number of tickets because of unrestrained children more than doubled, from 45 to 104.
Per 100,000 people, Mississippi is number 2 in the country in auto fatalities, folks.
A simple strap across your chest and waist can save you time, money, and your life.
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