If you are involved in a vehicle accident, no matter how slight you might believe the accident to be, make certain you stop and check with the other driver (or try to find them if it is a parked vehicle) before you leave the scene.

Police from on drivers who leave the scene of an accident. It is a crime in every state and a violation of law in most other countries as well. The reason is simple: the other driver might be injured, for one; or, there might be liability involved if you caused property damage. In either case you are responsible for seeing that you report yourself; allow yourself to be easily contacted by police if they have questions and make available your insurance information.

In Arkansas they not only frown on drivers who leave the scene of an accident, but they don’t take kindly to drivers who make lame excuses about why they didn’t hang around to check on the other drivers. Like: ‘I had ice cream in the car and it was melting.’

VAN BUREN, Ark. — A woman accused of leaving the scene of a minor traffic crash in western Arkansas told police she did it because she didn’t want her ice cream to melt.

Van Buren police say one vehicle rear-ended another Sunday evening, but that the driver of the second car didn’t stop to check on the vehicle she had hit. The other driver called police and set off in pursuit.

Fort Smith, Ark., television station KHBS reports that Flora Burkhart told police she didn’t think there was enough damage to merit stopping — and that she didn’t want her ice cream to melt.

Burkhart was cited for following too closely and leaving the scene of an accident.

‘Click It or Ticket’ has come to Arkansas in a big way. For the next month every police officer in the state will be focused on making certain everyone who rides in a vehicle is properly restrained. Seat belts for adults and car seats or boosters for children.

Seat belts save lives. Study after study has shown this to be true but yet some people continue to refuse to wear them. They complain because that seat belts are too restrictive, or that in the event of a vehicle accident the seat belt would prevent them from jumping clear of the wreckage (as if that might happen.) Some people who are obese complain that the seat belts are just too uncomfortable to wear.

Look folks, seat belts are not designed to be comfortable. They are not designer labeled nor are they made to accentuate your eye color. They are designed to save your life in the event of a vehicle collision and they work. But only if you wear them.

Sitting on your seat belt, tucking it under your arm or not wearing it at all will not help the seat belt do its job when it comes to saving your life. It needs to be properly fastened around and across your body if you expect it to keep you flying around the cabin like a rag doll in a runaway locomotive.

In Arkansas police are embarking on a month long campaign to remind drivers around the state that wearing a seat belt is not only safe, not only smart but also the law. That’s right. If you refuse to wear your seat belt for any reason police will find you and you will get a ticket. Nobody understands the dangers of driving without a seat belt as well as the people who are first on the scene of vehicle accidents every day. And they take their job of public safety very seriously.