(KAIR)--Wear your seatbelt, no matter where you're sitting in a vehicle.
That's the message delivered in a joint release from the Kansas Department of Transportation, the Kansas Highway Patrol, and the Kansas Turnpike Authority, which reminds motorists of the annual, statewide Click It or Ticket Effort.
Timed with the Memorial Day holiday, the national initiative, the release says, means "law enforcement agencies across Kansas will support this lifesaving focus by participating" in the effort, which will run from May 15 through May 27.
The release notes that "motorists will also see and hear messaging showing why seat belt use can be a life-or-death decision" as part of the increased enforcement effort.
In 2023, more than half of those who died in Kansas passenger motor vehicle fatality crashes were unrestrained. Also, in 2023, 1,879 people suffered serious injuries in crashes and about 1 in 4 of those people were not buckled up.
Research, the release says, "shows proper seat belt use reduces the risk of fatal injury by 45-60% and serious injury by 50%."
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