The last thing I want to do after eating a huge holiday meal is put on a belt. However when I consider that my other options should I choose not to wear a certain belt are a traffic fine or being thrown through my windshield, I will opt for the safety of the seat belt.  This is your warning, if you're driving you and everyone in your vehicle needs to be properly restrained.

This Sunday marks the return of the very successful Click It or Ticket Seat Belt Use campaign. Let's face it, wearing a seat belt is your first step in saving your life in the event of a car crash.

State Police Trooper Michael Reichardt tells the Louisiana Radio Network just how vital seat belt use is to keeping you safe in an accident.

Statistics show that you have a much better chance of surviving a crash and not being seriously injured if you’re wearing your seatbelt. That takes like three seconds, it’s that easy.

According to the National Highway Safety Administration wearing a seat belt increases your chances of not being seriously injured or killed in a car crash by 45%. You'd have to be pretty hard headed to want to argue with that.  It's also a the law in Louisiana and most other states too. Unless you just enjoy chatting with officers on the side of a busy roadway and paying traffic fines, why wouldn't you buckle up?

The Click It or Ticket campaign will run from Sunday November 22nd through Sunday November 29th. It means that more officers and patrols will be on the roadways looking for seat belt violations. These extra patrols over the very heavily traveled Thanksgiving weekend will also be used to remove impaired motorist from the roadways as well.

Always wear your seat-belt, don’t drink and drive. If you decide to go to a party and have a couple alcoholic beverages, make sure you have a designated driver or call a cab or just have a plan to make sure you get home safe.

The difference between a happy holiday and a nightmare you'll never forget could be the three seconds it takes to buckle your seat belt or the intelligence it takes to ask someone else to drive.

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