Buckle up for safety

As spring and summer approach and we get out more, we tend to drive more. As such, it is time to focus on the use of seatbelts and child-safety seats across our area. From May 18-31, the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office will join with law enforcement agencies across Virginia and the nation to crack down on all motorists breaking traffic laws, with an emphasis on seatbelt and child-safety seat use. Special checkpoints and other stepped-up law enforcement activities will be held throughout this Click It or Ticket mobilization.

According to the Department of Motor Vehicles’ Highway Safety Office, there were 821 fatalities in 2008. Of those, 612 fatalities occurred in vehicles that were equipped with safety restraints — 342 (54 percent) of the 612 fatalities were not wearing restraints.

That’s why the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office will be out on area roadways ensuring that motorists are obeying all traffic laws, including wearing their seatbelts, with this Click It or Ticket enforcement mobilization and throughout the year in an effort to save more lives on Virginia’s roadways.

Regular seatbelt and child-safety seat use is the single most effective way to protect yourself and others in a crash; it costs nothing and takes very little effort. Unfortunately, too many Virginians still need a tough reminder to buckle up.

On behalf of the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office, please make sure that each person in your vehicle is buckled up, including yourself, because if you don’t, we will.