Authorities to check safety belt use

If you don't make a practice of fastening your safety belt, now's a good time to start. Illinois State Police and local law-enforcement agencies will be stopping cars through Nov. 30 to ensure drivers and passengers are buckling up.

The Click it or Ticket campaign aims to reduce fatalities over the Thanksgiving holiday. Traffic crash deaths have dropped since the safety belt law was signed into law in 2003, Illinois Department of Transportation officials said. Highway fatalities in Illinois have decreased by 22 percent, with 888 as of mid-November 2008, compared to 1,090 during the same time period in 2007. Wearing safety belts correctly can reduce fatal injuries to front-seat passengers by 45 percent, authorities said.

For more information on the effort, contact buckleupillinois.org.