JACKSON, Miss– The Mississippi Highway Patrol launched a two week blitz today to get you to buckle up. If you’re not fastened in, that’s a ticket.
“We don’t do this for citations,” says Penny Corn, Office Director for the Mississippi Highway Patrol, “we do this so you arrive alive.”
Corn was joined by Mississippi Highway Patrol officers to warn about the dangers of driving without a seatbelt. Jack Blackmon tells his story and says wearing a seatbelt doesn’t cost you anything.
“When we wrecked, my friend was wearing his seatbelt. He only got a scratch on his leg,” says Blackmon, “I had a spinal injury, and ended up in a wheelchair.”
Blackmon now serves as an advocate for seatbelts, as well as a volunteer for the Americorps.
“I just tell people, like your parents say, be responsible. It doesn’t cost you anything to be responsible.”
The Mississippi Highway Patrol will be out enforcing the use of seatbelts through the Memorial Day holiday.