PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- The holiday season is upon us and Pascagoula Gautier School District Chief Calvin Hutchins and Capt. Kenny Johnson with the Pascagoula Police Department are partnering to encourage parents to buckle up and buckle their children up this holiday season.
Both chiefs stood outside of Jackson Elementary School Thursday evening checking cars as parents picked up their children at the end of the day to make sure all parties inside were buckled up and secure.
According to Principal Christy Cumbest, parents pick up their children from school everyday, however, they do not make sure their children are secured in their seat belts before pulling off school grounds.
"As principal, I just want to make sure I am looking out for the safety of the children," Cumbest said. "I'm simply asking for parents to make sure their children are in appropriate car seats and are buckled up before they leave campus."
Hutchins said Cumbest has had problems with parents arguing about simply making sure their children are wearing their seat belts, hence the partnership between the district and police department to provide warnings to parents on Thursday.
"It shouldn't be too much to ask to procure your child's safety," Hutchins said. "Mrs. Cumbest told us she was having issues, so we decided to come out and simply ask parents to make sure they, along with their children are safely buckled up."
According to the Mississippi Department of Transportation:
- Statistically, 1 out of 2 people killed in motor vehicle crashes in Mississippi are not buckled up.
- Teenage drivers and passengers are among those least likely to wear their seat belts.
- Nationally, 90.1% of Americans wear their seat belts. In Mississippi, that number is only 77.9%. which puts us among some of the lowest seat belt use rates in the nation.
- Nationally, seat belts saved 13,941 lives of people aged 5 and older in 2015. Child Restrains saved another 266 children ages 4 and younger during that time.
- In Mississippi, seat belts saved 296 lives in 2015. If 100% of vehicle occupants buckled up, another 121 lives would have been saved.
Per Hutchins, Thursday's patrolling was simply to place parents on notice because a 'Click It or Ticket' campaign will be arriving soon and $25 tickets will be issued for those who fail to wear their safety belts.
"Today is just the initial warning -- we decided to come here today before Thanksgiving and we will be out again next month at a random school making sure people are buckled up," Hutchins said. "After then, tickets will be issued."