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April 19, 2024 – If you’re in a pickup, you can buckle up or pay up.
Law enforcement officers across Louisiana will be issuing tickets to pickup truck drivers and passengers who are not using their seat belts during the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission’s “Buckle Up in Your Truck” campaign that runs through Saturday, April 27.
Louisiana law states that everyone in a motor vehicle – including those in the back seat – must wear a seat belt or be properly restrained in a child seat. A first-offense ticket costs 50 dollars, and subsequent violations are 75 dollars.
LHSC is sponsoring the campaign because drivers of pickup trucks in Louisiana are less likely to wear their seat belts than drivers of passenger cars, SUVs, and vans, according to the latest observational survey. LHSC Executive Director Lisa Freeman said the low rate of seat belt usage is “particularly troubling because pickup trucks are more susceptible to rolling over when they are in a crash.”
“Pickup trucks have a higher center of gravity, and when they are impacted, the wheels more easily leave the roadway and can trigger a rollover,” Freeman said. “Once that happens, anyone inside the cab of that truck who has not buckled up is in an extremely dangerous situation.”
Research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows 41% of all pickup truck occupants who were killed in a crash in 2021 were in a pickup truck that rolled over. The research also shows 61% of all pickup truck drivers and passengers who were killed in rural areas were not wearing seat belts.
“We know this is a problem in Louisiana because we have the 3rd-highest rate of pickup truck fatalities among all vehicle types,” Freeman said. “When you look at the low number of people in pickup trucks wearing seat belts, it’s easy to conclude that we can save more lives if we get more people in pickups to buckle up.”
For more information on occupant protection in Louisiana, please visit the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission website: www.lahighwaysafety.org/our-programs/occupant-protection/.
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