Law enforcement agencies across Kansas have mobilized in the days leading up to Memorial Day Weekend.

Beginning on Monday of this week and continuing through Sunday, May 31, 2020, travelers can expect increased Police presence on roads and highways across Kansas.  Law enforcement agencies are enforcing Kansas occupant restraint and other traffic laws as part of the 2020 Kansas Click It or Ticket campaign.

This activity is supported by a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). Enforcement will occur around the clock. Seatbelt use diminishes after nightfall, meaning the likelihood of unbelted crash injuries and deaths rise during those hours.

The aim of Click It or Ticket is simple: to effectively reduce the number of preventable deaths and injuries that occur when unbelted drivers and passengers are involved in traffic crashes. About 345 persons are involved in 170 crashes each day in Kansas. Only 7% of those that are unbelted are likely to escape without injury. Half of all fatalities occur among those who are not wearing a seat belt. While seat belts may not always prevent a serious or fatal injury, certainly no other piece of equipment within the vehicle provides more protection.

Kansas’ overall adult seat belt compliance rate is 85% and ranges, by county, from 62% to 97%, with occupants in rural counties generally less likely to buckle up than those in urban counties. According to KDOT, this rural-urban difference in rates of buckling up is especially problematic because rural roadway conditions are often less forgiving than those in urban areas, and the consequences of driver misjudgment – such as unsafe speed and failure to buckle up – are likely to be more severe in the event of a crash.

Almost two-thirds of Kansas’ fatality crashes occur on rural roadways while these roads account for only one-third of all crashes.