The Hartsville Police Department will be participating in the 2019 Buckle Up South Carolina Campaign with closer attention being focused on seatbelt and child restraint violations.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration one of the safest choices drivers and passengers can make is to buckle up.  Many Americans understand the lifesaving value of the seat belt.  The national use rate was at 89.6% in 2018.  Seat belt use in passenger vehicles saved an estimated 14,955 lives in 2017.  Please understand the potentially fatal consequences of not wearing a seat belt and learn what you can do to make sure you and your family are properly buckled up every time.

  • 2017: 37,133 people killed in crashes, 47% were not wearing seatbelts
  • Buckling up helps keep you safe and secure inside your vehicle, whereas not buckling up can result in being totally ejected from the vehicle in a crash, which is almost always deadly.
  • Air bags are not enough to protect you; in fact, the force of an air bag can seriously injure or even kill you if you’re not buckled up.
  • Improperly wearing a seat belt, such as putting the strap below your arm, puts you and your children at risk in a crash.

The benefits of buckling up are clear. If you buckle up in the front seat of a passenger car, you can reduce your risk of:

  • Fatal injury by 45% (Kahane, 2015)
  • Moderate to critical injury by 50%
  • If you buckle up in a light truck, you can reduce your risk of:
  • Fatal injury by 60% (Kahane, 2015)
  • Moderate to critical injury by 65% (NHTSA, 1984)

The Hartsville Police Department will continue aggressive enforcement of DUI offenders, especially during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.  So far this year, HPD has taken over 25 impaired drivers off of the streets of Hartsville.  As a part of our efforts to reduce impaired driving, we will continue to use public safety checkpoints and aggressive impaired driving saturations.  We want everyone to enjoy Memorial Day as a time of remembrance and to be safe on our roadways.  HPD would like to thank all of those military members who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our nation and ensuring our freedom.