Police are stepping up the "Click It or Ticket" seat belt campaign for the holiday and extra deputies will be on hand to keep an eye out for drunken drivers.
The Carson City Sheriff's Department officials have announced a special crackdown this Thanksgiving for people who refuse to buckle their seat belts during the holiday.
The "Click It or Ticket" enforcement during the Thanksgiving holiday season runs through Sunday, said Deputy Jarrod Adams.
"If you are using your vehicle this Thanksgiving, whether it's a short trip to the grocery store, or a long-haul across the state, if you aren't buckled up, you will get a ticket," he said.
According to the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 31,415 passenger vehicle occupants died in crashes across the nation in 2005, and more than half of them, 16,172, were not wearing seat belts.
During the 2005 Thanksgiving holiday season, 376 people died in passenger vehicle crashes during the daytime hours of 6 a.m. to 5:59 p.m. and nearly the same amount, 347 people, died at night.
According to NHTSA statistics, of the fatal accidents that occurred at night, 205 people died with their seat belts unfastened; while 159 of those killed in daytime fatalities were not wearing seat belts.
"Not wearing a seat belt, especially during this Thanksgiving period, will definitely cost you a ticket at the very least, and maybe even your life," Adams said.
Adams said extra enforcement also will be on patrol to look for impaired drivers.
It is estimated that during the holidays, approximately 500 people will be killed by drunk drivers nationwide.
Funding for the overtime used in these campaigns is paid for by grants form the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety, Department of Public Safety.