Sunday, November 24, 2024–10:25 a.m.

-Governor’s Office of Highway Safety-

It is Thanksgiving week, and more than two million Georgians are expected to be traveling on roads and highways

The Thanksgiving holiday travel period takes place during the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) “Click It, Don’t Risk It” seat belt awareness campaign.  The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety will ask everyone to “Join the Click” by wearing their seat belt on every trip and making sure all children under eight years of age are riding in a properly installed child safety seat that meets the manufacturer’s recommended guidelines for the child’s height and weight. 

The Georgia State Patrol will work throughout the holiday weekend to reduce crashes and save lives by enforcing all traffic laws including speeding, DUI, hands-free, reckless driving and failure to wear a seat belt. 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the number of passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes during the Thanksgiving Holiday travel period in Georgia (Wednesday 6pm – Monday 6am) has increased by more than 30 percent over a five-year period from 2018 to 2022. 

According to NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 52 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes during the Thanksgiving Holiday travel weekend in Georgia from 2018-2022 were not wearing seat belts.  Federal crash data showed 43 percent of the 326 passenger vehicle occupants killed during 108-hour Thanksgiving Holiday travel weekend in the United States in 2022 were not wearing seat belts.  Seat belts are the most important piece of safety equipment in every vehicle and all vehicle safety systems are designed based on the vehicle occupants being properly restrained.