If you have plans to travel this holiday weekend, get ready for a lot of company. The Highway Patrol says since the terrorist attacks of September 11^th, more people have been skipping airports and hitting highways instead. The added congestion means you have a greater risk of being involved in an accident. Since most fatalities happen when someone is not wearing a seatbelt, we find out from law enforcement if tougher laws could help keep your family safer.

Seatbelts save lives. Sgt. Jarvis Reeder knows that first hand. His seatbelt saved him when he crashed during a high-speed chase. Sgt. Reeder says, "It's something that really changes your life when you realize how that small seatbelt could mean the difference in you walking or ending a career".

According to a survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 75 percent of Americans wore their seatbelts last year. It's much lower here in South Carolina where 65 percent buckle up.

Sgt. Reeder says tougher laws may help. Right now, not wearing a seatbelt is a secondary offense. That means authorities can only charge you for not buckling up if they pull you over for some other violation. Statistics show that seatbelt use is higher in states with primary seatbelt laws.

Some critics say if traffic laws were tougher, it would give law enforcement more incentive to write tickets. L/Cpl. Aaron Duncan says the Highway Patrol does not get money from ticket fines and he says troopers do not have a quota of how many tickets they have to write. Duncan says his motive in writing tickets is to do his job of upholding laws that are designed to protect people on the highways.

The Highway Patrol is not waiting for tougher laws to make a difference. Lieutenants compile crash data to figure out which are the most dangerous roads and that's where they put most of their troopers.

Here’s some advice to help keep you safe. Besides wearing your seatbelt and making sure your children are buckled in, troopers say you should research travel routes before you hit the road to find out if road construction might slow you down. Also, give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination. Speeding is one of the leading causes of collisions.