seat belt

Buckle up Texas, it's the law.

More than three million Texans are going to be traveling for the Memorial Day weekend, and it may feel like every one of them is in front of you on I-20. There will be enough road stress, so do yourself a favor and avoid the hassle of getting fined two hundred bucks on top of it.

Have you known someone who didn't wear a seat belt and died in a car accident? I have.

The annual Click It or Ticket campaign starts soon, meaning officers will be focused on passing out tickets to those of us that head down the road without seat belts fastened. The dates cover Memorial Day - one of the busiest and most dangerous weekends to be out on the highway.

It is the law in the State of Texas, if you are in a vehicle, no matter what seat you're in, you must wear a seat belt or face getting a ticket from law enforcement. Tyler police and other departments and agencies around the state are hyper focusing on seat belt violators and you could be stopped and fined for not complying.

There's no doubt East Texans have a love affair with their pickups. In fact, one in four registered vehicles in the state of Texas are pickups. The sad news is, in a 2011 study conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute, only 80 percent of pickup truck drivers buckle up. This is compared to 90 percent of regular seat-belt users in all other types of vehicles.