Millions of Southern California residents, including many from Santa Clarita, will be taking to the roads this weekend for Memorial Day, pushing the California Highway Patrol to conduct a maximum enforcement period on seat belt usage, enforcing their “Click It or Ticket” campaign.

A record 3.21 million southern California residents will be traveling over the holiday weekend, contributing to the 5.19 million Californians expected to travel over the three days, breaking the record of 5.18 million in 2005, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.

During the enforcement period, CHP officers will educate drivers and enforce traffic safety laws throughout the state to ensure a safe holiday. Officers will also be watching carefully for distracted drivers and those who are impaired by drugs or alcohol.

“Too many lives are lost every year due to preventable acts,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “Law enforcement personnel see the tragic consequences too frequently of not buckling up or of driving impaired or distracted. These are all avoidable.”

Related: Newhall CHP Officer Writes 118 Citations In April, Motorists Urged To Slow Down

The maximum enforcement period will run from 6 p.m. Friday, May 25 to midnight Monday, May 28.

“It only takes two seconds to buckle up,” Stanley said. “Wearing a seat belt is such a simple task to keep you and your passengers safe. Remember, it is also the law.”

CHP officials are also urging drivers to protect child passengers by placing them in age-appropriate safety seats.

The law requires that children under age eight ride in the back seat and that a child under age two is secured in a rear-facing child passenger safety seat.

Approximately 70 percent of the vehicle occupants who died in CHP jurisdiction in the 2016 and 2017 Memorial Day MEPs were not wearing seat belts. A total of 45 people died statewide in Memorial Day MEP collisions in 2017, according to officials.

During those same MEPs, there were 921 arrests in California for driving under the influence in 2017 and 1,065 in 2016.

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