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NEW ORLEANS – The NOPD wants you to remember to buckle your seatbelt this Memorial Day Weekend.

With many people celebrating this weekend as the unofficial start to summer and the summer travel season, law enforcement agencies across the country are putting a focus on highway safety.

“As the Memorial Day weekend approaches and the summer vacation season ramps up, we want to keep our community members safe and make sure people are doing the one thing that can save them in a crash and that’s buckling up,” NOPD Traffic Unit commander Lt. Anthony Micheu said.

The NOPD is taking part in the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign by enforcing a “zero tolerance” policy for drivers and passengers not wearing seatbelts.

The campaign runs through June 4.

“Our law enforcement personnel see firsthand the loss of life when people refuse to buckle up. It’s such a simple thing – it should be an automatic ‘first step’ after sitting down in a vehicle,” Micheu said. “Seat belts save lives and everyone – front and back seat, children and adults – need to remember to buckle up every trip, every time.”

In Louisiana the maximum penalty for a seat belt violation is $45.

“In 2015, we lost 19 community members because they did not buckle their seat belts,” Micheu said. “If our enforcement crackdown wakes people up to the dangers of unrestrained driving and gets them to buckle up, we’ll consider it a success.”