A multi-state safety crackdown set for Friday along Route 66

The New Mexico State Police will team up Friday with law enforcement agencies in seven other states in the "Get Your 'Clicks' on Route 66" seat belt crackdown.

The crackdown will run for 24 hours on Friday, from midnight to midnight, said Lt. Jimmy Glascock.

Glascock said in district 9, (Quay and Guadalupe County) the crackdown will run from the state line to mile marker 239, just past Santa Rosa.

"We're really excited to be taking part in this important project," said New Mexico State Police Chief Robert Shilling. "Fastening your seat belt and making sure your kids are properly buckled up is such an easy thing to do, and it's the best way to protect yourself in the event of a crash."

Glascock said in our area the fatalities seen on Interstate 40 are often the result of not using or the misuse of restraints.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 13,000 lives are saved every year by seat belts and child restraints, and motorists are 75 percent less likely to be killed in

rollover crashes if they are buckled up.

The quarterly mobilization began in August, 2010 with a handful of law enforcement agencies in central Oklahoma, but now has expanded to include highway patrol troopers, state police officers and other agencies in eight states along the famed "Mother Road."

"It's great to see agencies all along Route 66 working together to enforce the law in their respective states,"

Shilling said.

The "Get your 'Clicks' on Route 66" mobilization is coordinated by Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. Ben Crockett. States taking part in the Friday crackdown include Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.