Cpl. Bart Veal

Public Information Officer

903-798-3187 (office) 903-798-2368 (pager)

903-824-4199 (cell) 903-798-3023 (fax)

Texarkana Arkansas Police Badge

Re: Buckle Up In Your Truck Campaign 2005

The Texarkana Arkansas Police Department has united with traffic safety advocates across a five state region in a concerted drive to convince pickup truck drivers and passengers in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and the Indian Nations to “Buckle Up in Your Truck.”

State observation surveys show that well over a million pickup drivers and passengers in the five state region are still not buckling up, resulting in more than 1,000 pickup occupants dying in the five states every year in traffic crashes. Safety belt use in pickup trucks is 5 to 15 percentage points lower compared to all other passenger vehicles in the five states.

“Pickups are twice as likely to roll over as passenger cars in fatal crashes. Nearly half of the deaths in pickup crashes in the region involve a rollover. Wearing your safety belt reduces the risk of dying in a rollover crash by up to 80 percent.” “And buckling up is your only defense against being ejected from your vehicle, one of the most deadly things that can happen to you in a crash.”

The campaign was launched in May 2004 and will run through 2006, with special emphasis in May 2005.

The Buckle Up in Your Truck campaign is funded the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the highway safety offices in the five States and the Indian Nations.

For more information of the value of Buckling Up in Your Truck, visit www.BuckleUpinYourTruck.com.