Click It or Ticket!

A couple of months ago, I noticed my son buckling up his stuffed giraffe as we headed out on some errands. He wanted his giraffe to be "safe" as we traveled.  This was not the first occurrence of this type of thing happening.  Any time we take one of his furry friends with us, the friend needs a seat belt.

Perhaps my husband and I have set a precedence. Each time we drive somewhere, we ask "Who's buckled?"  If we forget one of our kids usually asks the question for us. If someone in the car doesn't respond, someone (not always one of the adults) asks whoever didn't respond directly if they are buckled and then waits for an affirmative answer.

Maybe you have seen the commercial where instead of people saying "I love you" they were saying "Buckle up." While I doubt you repeat "Buckle up" instead of "I love you," aren't we still conveying the same meaning when asking if someone is buckled up?  We make sure each other are buckled up because we care about each other.

Thankfully, we are becoming a society that is more and more concerned with safety, and seat belts.  Did you know that in 2015, seat belts saved an estimated 13,941 lives of people 5 and older in passenger vehicles?  Those are a lot of lives that have been saved, because of the attention given to seat belts, but even more could be saved in 2017.

The Click It or Ticket campaign falls on May 22-June 7 this year.  Law enforcement will be putting an extra emphasis on buckling up, particularly during these days. Safety education and seat belt laws are also emphasized during this time.

Proper seat belt usage is the most effective thing you can do to protect yourself in an accident.  But you can't wait until, or if that time comes.  You must start buckling up every time you get in your car, and now is a great time to start, if you aren't already in the habit.