Children trust their parents to do what is right for them and to keep them safe. Not many parents would want to defy this innocent trust in their children, so this feeling of security should include parents always buckling up their children while riding in a vehicle. Children do not realize the danger they are in while riding in a moving vehicle without a seat belt, but adults do.

To help decrease the chance of unrestrained children dying in car accidents, during Memorial Day weekend, police departments all over the state are setting up checkpoints and increased patrols to make sure all passengers, especially children, are wearing the proper restraints.

A toll-free number has also been established to allow people to call in the license number of vehicles with unbuckled children. The National Safety Council will send these people a friendly letter warning the parents that children should always be restrained.

Parents should always make sure their children are properly restrained in the vehicle before ever considering their own safety. Traffic accidents are the number one killer of children today, with six out of 10 children who die being unbuckled. One out of 15 children still travel in vehicles unrestrained, their parents gambling on the lives of their children. To avoid the tragic death of a young one from neglegience, buckle up children this Memorial Day weekend, as well as everyday afterwards.