BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — This Thanksgiving may be one of the worst ones to be on the road for, with 518 estimated to die on the road.
The National Safety Council (NSC) said if the estimate holds true, then this year’s Thanksgiving may experience the most roadway fatalities since 2007.
“The 90% confidence interval for the estimate of traffic deaths this holiday is 452 to 588,” said NSC.
Seatbelts could prevent 205 lives from being lost this Thanksgiving, NSC said. A “Click it or Ticket” campaign will be ongoing during the holiday weekend in Louisiana, meaning if drivers aren’t wearing a seatbelt then they will be ticketed.
“The ‘Click it or Ticket’ state enforcement campaign is solely an effort to keep drivers and passengers from being injured or killed in a car crash,” Louisiana Highway Safety Commission Executive Director Lisa Freeman said.
According to Freeman, 18 people were killed during Thanksgiving last year, which marked the second deadliest holiday period of the year.
“Our goal is not to hand out tickets; our goal is to save lives,” Freeman said. “Lives are priceless, and if it takes a ticket to save even one life, then ‘Click it or Ticket’ has accomplished its public safety purpose.”
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development reminds drivers of the following safety tips:
- Drive carefully.
- Avoid driving while distracted.
- Allow for extra driving time.
- Make sure there is plenty of room between vehicles.
- Wear your seatbelt.
- Don’t drive impaired.
- Be sure to use headlights if windshield wipers are on.
