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SALT LAKE CITY -- In the days ahead, more than 2 million motorists in the Mountain West will head out on the highways for the Thanksgiving holiday. State troopers are aiming for zero fatalities this long holiday weekend; they are declaring zero tolerance for people who don't buckle up.
The seat belt is the single most effective way to protect yourself and your passengers when you drive. Yet, troopers regularly spot motorists not buckled up. Trooper Jeremy Horne always keeps his eyes open for speeders, impaired drivers and those who don't wear seat belts.
This Thanksgiving, the UHP has extra federal money for extra shifts to enforce the seat belt laws; that means 244 troopers will be out there, looking for those who don't buckle up.
In 2007, seat belts saved an estimated 15,147 lives. An additional 5,024 lives could have been saved if seat belts were worn at the time of the crashes. -NHTSA
Horne says, "It is the minority now, but there are people out there still that choose not to wear their seat belt, or forget, or whatever the circumstance is."
As we headed out on the road, it only took seconds to spot a driver not wearing his seat belt. The driver said he was headed home for lunch and just forgot.
Seat belts reduce the risk of injury and death by about 70%. In 2007, unbuckled motorists were 20 times more likely to die than buckled motorists. -UDPS
"I don't hear a lot of people trying to justify not wearing it," Horne said. "Most of the time, it's an excuse that they forgot."
The Utah Highway Patrol kicked off a holiday campaign urging everyone to "Click It, or Ticket" at the Salt Lake International Airport because they say none of us think twice about buckling up when we fly.
Delta pilot Jim Gasik says we should go through a similar preflight checklist every time we drive.
One in five Americans still fails to buckle up regularly. -NHTSA
Gasik says, "It's a law for pilots to always have their seat belts fastened, and it's also a law for drivers."
Statistics show seat belts work; yet every day people are seriously hurt or killed because they do not buckle up.
![Thanksgiving fatalities in Utah. [Click to enlarge the graph]](https://img.ksl.com/slc/1596/159662/15966287.jpg?filter=kslv2/inline_lg)
Airport Police Chief Steve Marlovits says, "Motor vehicle crashes continue to be the leading killer of people age 3 to 34, and this toll could be significantly reduced by the use of seat belts."
Trooper Horne knows they make a difference. He says, "I have seen that more than one time, where there was an accident and had the occupant been wearing their seat belt, most likely, they would have survived the crash."
If you are 19 years old or younger, you can be pulled over primarily for not wearing a seat belt. If you're older than 19, law enforcement must have some other primary reason to pull you over.
E-mail: jboal@ksl.com
