Gulfport Police kicking off Click it or Ticket campaign

With Memorial Day Weekend kicking off the unofficial start of summer and a busy driving season, the Gulfport Police Department is committing to cracking down on motorists who don’t wear seat belts as part of their 2021 Memorial Day Click it or Ticket campaign.

While making sure to do this one simple step every time you are in a vehicle is important, so is buckling up correctly.

Gulfport police encourages drivers to always place the shoulder belt across the middle of the chest, away from the neck, and place the lap belt across the hips, not stomach.

At the end of the day, the GPD says this effort is not about citations, it is about saving lives.  Gulfport PD Public Information Officer Sgt. Jason Ducre said, “With everything starting to open back up and the beautiful weather, there’s going to be more traffic, more people. So, we just want to remind people to drive safe, be careful, be patient, and buckle up. In 2019 we had 9,466 fatalities caused by people that weren’t buckled up. And one death– or one fatality is too many.”

Police also say regardless of vehicle type, seat belt use is the single most effective way to stay alive in a crash.