If you drive through Fayetteville without putting your children into the property safety restraints, prepare to suffer the consequences.

The Fayetteville Police Department is joining other law enforcement agencies in a nationwide zero tolerance crackdown on drivers with unbuckled children, known as Operation ABC Mobilization.

“Starting on Nov. 22 and continuing through the holiday season, our officers will be looking for and ticketing deadbeat drivers,” said Fayetteville Lt. Tom Kirkbride.

“These are adults who, regardless of the widespread attention to child passenger safety, are still putting children at deadly risk by failing to properly buckle them in the back seat.”

“I'll never forget the first time I arrived at the scene of a crash where the victim was an unbuckled child,” said Fayetteville Officer Mike James. “That is why I am so committed to these seat belt mobilizations.”

Transportation officials credit the project with helping to move the nation toward its goal of decreasing child fatalities by 15 percent by the year 2000. Since the crackdowns began two years ago, restraint use by children 1 to 4 has increased from 60 to 87 percent, and child fatalities have dropped by 12.3 percent, according to the National Highway Safety Administration.

“Despite the dramatic increase in child restraint use and subsequent drop in child fatalities, we still have work to do,” said Janet Dewey, executive director of the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign. “Deadbeat drivers who fail to take responsibility for protecting their child passengers are still placing millions of children at deadly risk every day,” he said.

Traffic crashes remain the leading cause of death for children of all races ages 5 - 14. Nearly six of 10 children who die in crashes are unbuckled. Of those, nearly half would be alive today if an adult had made sure they were buckled up.

“Today we are calling on our entire community to adopt zero tolerance for unbuckled children,” said Fayetteville's Lt. Kirkbride. “No one should look the other way when they see a child at risk. Everyone must make sure that relatives, neighbors and friends know that letting a children ride unbuckled, not matter how short the ride, is always life threatening and never worth the risk.”

Georgia's child restraint law requires that all children and young adults 17 and younger must be buckled up while in a motor vehicle, and Georgia's seat belt law also requires that all front seat passengers must be buckled up.

The Fayetteville Police Department also will be stepping up enforcement of adult seat belt laws, said Kirkbride, adding that it's a proven fact that most adults who don't buckle up themselves don't buckle up their children.

Research has found that buckled drivers are three times more likely to restrain child passengers than drivers who don't buckle up.

“Motorists who don't wear seat belts are statistically more likely to be seriously injured or killed in a traffic crash. During this holiday season, they will also be more likely to get a ticket,” said Kirkbride.

In partnership with law enforcement and state highway safety offices, the Operation ABC Mobilization is sponsored by the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign and the National Highway Safety Administration, and is part of Buckle Up America, an ongoing national initiative to increase belt use and save lives of all Americans.