RALEIGH – The Governor’s Highway Safety Program is urging North Carolinians to buckle up this Memorial Day so everyone can safely honor those who died while serving in the U.S. military.
State and local officials will be aboard the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial in Wilmington at 10 a.m. Monday to reinforce the traffic safety message. It’s all part of this year’s Memorial Day “Click It or Ticket” campaign, which runs from May 22-June 4.
“We want everyone to enjoy Memorial Day safely and responsibly by always wearing a seat belt when they’re traveling,” said state Transportation Secretary Eric Boyette, who will speak at Monday’s event. “Sadly, the Memorial Day holiday is one of our deadliest times of year on the roads and many of those deaths could be prevented if people would just buckle up – every seat, every time.”
The campaign encourages people to buckle up through enforcement and education, including increased law enforcement patrols and seat belt checks in all 100 North Carolina counties.
Each year, one of the main contributors to vehicle deaths is people who don’t wear seat belts. Over the last six years, more than 40 percent of the people killed in vehicle crashes were not wearing a seat belt.
It’s not just dangerous to ride unbelted. It can also be expensive. People who violate North Carolina’s seat belt law can face a fine of $180 or more.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re driving or riding as a passenger in the front or back seat, or if you have a young person in a child safety seat, everyone should be buckled up,” said North Carolina State Highway Patrol Commander Col. Freddy Johnson, who will also speak Monday.
Boyette and Johnson will be joined during Monday’s event by law enforcement from the Brunswick County and New Hanover County sheriff’s offices, and a North Carolina woman who survived a crash because she wore a seat belt.
Boyette leads the N.C. Department of Transportation and helps reinforce the traffic safety efforts of the department’s Governor’s Highway Safety Program.
For more safety tips, follow @NCGHSP on Facebook and @NC_GHSP on Twitter and Instagram. For more information, visit the Governor's Highway Safety Program webpage.