Buckle up for the holidays

Thanksgiving is the beginning of the holiday season and the year's busiest travel weekend. Whether it's driving across the street or across the country to reach a Thanksgiving feast, it's important to wear a seat belt.

Increased traffic during the holidays brings and increased possibility of a traffic crash. Whether a passenger or driver, riding long distances or short, buckle the seat belt, Sheriff Rich McNamee with the Henry County Sheriff's Office reminds residents.

If ejected from a vehicle in a crash, the odds are that it will be fatal. In 2016, eight out of 10 people who were totally ejected from vehicles were killed. Only 1 percent of occupants wearing seat belts were ejected in fatal crashes

There were four Iowans killed in traffic crashes over the 2017 Thanksgiving weekend, a reduction of two from 2016.

Proper seat belt use reduces the risk of fatal injury to front seat passengers by 45 percent and the risk of moderate to serious injury by 50 percent.

Younger drivers are at a greater risk of being unbuckled. The 13 to 15-year-old age group had the highest percentage at 62 percent of occupants killed who were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

Men are more likely to be unbuckled than women in fatal crashes.

This message came from the Henry County Sheriff's Office, the Department of Public Safety and the Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau.