KENNER — The Kenner Police Department, which was awarded an overtime traffic enforcement grant this year from the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, is reminding motorists again to “Click It Or Ticket.”  In order to enforce this reminder, KPD is stepping up its enforcement of seatbelt laws from this Saturday, November 19 through Saturday, November 26, 2022.  As motorists take to the roads to celebrate the long Thanksgiving weekend, law enforcement officials across the nation will be ensuring that everyone buckles up.

“Thanksgiving weekend kicks off the holiday season, and we want to ensure that everyone arrives at their destination safe and sound,” said Kenner Chief of Police Keith Conley.  “If you are not wearing your seat belt, you will be ticketed.”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, of the 23,824 people killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2020, 51% were not wearing seat belts (a 4% increase from 2019).  In 2017 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 14,955 lives and could have saved an additional 2,549 people if they had been wearing seat belts.

The consequences of not wearing, or improperly wearing, a seat belt are clear:

1. Buckling up helps keep you safe and secure inside your vehicle, whereas not buckling up can result in being totally ejected from the vehicle in a crash, which is almost always deadly.
2. Air bags are not enough to protect you; in fact, the force of an air bag can seriously injure or even kill you if you’re not buckled up.
3. Improperly wearing a seat belt, such as putting the strap below your arm, puts you and your children at risk in a crash.

The benefits of buckling up are equally clear:

1. If you buckle up in the front seat of a passenger car, you can reduce your risk of:
   • Fatal injury by 45%.
   • Moderate to critical injury by 50%.
2. If you buckle up in a light truck, you can reduce your risk of:
   • Fatal injury by 60%.
   • Moderate to critical injury by 65%.

“Although seat belt usage was 90.4% nationally in 2021,” stated Chief Conley, “too many people are still dying on our roadways.  Many of these deaths could have been prevented by simply wearing their seat belt.  Those who still don’t get the message will be receiving tickets year-round.”

For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.        

More information:  Please contact Captain Cunningham of the KPD Public Information Office at [email protected] or (504) 712-2420 with any additional questions you may have.