New Incentive for Buckling Up: Free Chick-Fil-A
Updated: 17 days 5 hours ago
(Jan. 4) -- Imagine driving on a lonely back road in South Carolina. You pass a parked state trooper and your heart skips a beat. You reflexively brake and check your seat belt. He pulls out. Were you speeding? You can't remember. He turns his lights on. Your heart is in your throat. You can't afford a ticket.
You pull over and open your window. The trooper sidles up and peers in. He sees your fastened seat belt, sighs, and writes you a ticket for a moving violation.
But it's not all bad -- he also gives you a free sandwich at Chick-Fil-A!
This scenario could be playing out in several counties in South Carolina, where the Highway Patrol has been handing out coupons for sandwiches as a reward for drivers who buckle up. Since the start of program Thanksgiving Day, officers have handed out more than 1,200 coupons, the Greenville News reports.
The campaign is South Carolina's carrot to the federal stick of the Click It or Ticket campaign. If the county-by-county program is successful, it could be expanded statewide, says South Carolina Highway Patrol spokesman Lance Cpl. Bob Beres.
South Carolina isn't the only state with a positive reinforcement program. Washington, Connecticut, Nevada, Kansas, Missouri, Vermont, Utah, Kentucky, North Dakota, Minnesota and Maryland all have a similar policy. In Illinois, police reward buckled drivers with coupons for 6-inch Subway sandwiches, while unbuckled drivers get pencils that say "Click It or Ticket." This year, the Illinois Department of Transportation reported the lowest number of traffic deaths since 1923.
Chick-Fil-A encourages franchises to participate in the program. The restaurant had previously cooperated in a similar program in Kansas, though that had to be suspended when people began making copies of the coupons.
"If getting a free chicken sandwich is a way we can help, we certainly want to do that," Chick-Fil-A spokeswoman Ashleigh Speir told the Greenville News.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol believes that a small reward offered for doing the right thing can make a big impact.
"We've lost 394 people on South Carolina roadways from not wearing their seat belts," Beres says. "Just know the South Carolina Highway Patrol wants you to wear your seat belt, and Chick- Fil-A wants you to eat more chicken."
[Via Slashfood]
You pull over and open your window. The trooper sidles up and peers in. He sees your fastened seat belt, sighs, and writes you a ticket for a moving violation.
But it's not all bad -- he also gives you a free sandwich at Chick-Fil-A!
This scenario could be playing out in several counties in South Carolina, where the Highway Patrol has been handing out coupons for sandwiches as a reward for drivers who buckle up. Since the start of program Thanksgiving Day, officers have handed out more than 1,200 coupons, the Greenville News reports.
The campaign is South Carolina's carrot to the federal stick of the Click It or Ticket campaign. If the county-by-county program is successful, it could be expanded statewide, says South Carolina Highway Patrol spokesman Lance Cpl. Bob Beres.
South Carolina isn't the only state with a positive reinforcement program. Washington, Connecticut, Nevada, Kansas, Missouri, Vermont, Utah, Kentucky, North Dakota, Minnesota and Maryland all have a similar policy. In Illinois, police reward buckled drivers with coupons for 6-inch Subway sandwiches, while unbuckled drivers get pencils that say "Click It or Ticket." This year, the Illinois Department of Transportation reported the lowest number of traffic deaths since 1923.
Chick-Fil-A encourages franchises to participate in the program. The restaurant had previously cooperated in a similar program in Kansas, though that had to be suspended when people began making copies of the coupons.
"If getting a free chicken sandwich is a way we can help, we certainly want to do that," Chick-Fil-A spokeswoman Ashleigh Speir told the Greenville News.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol believes that a small reward offered for doing the right thing can make a big impact.
"We've lost 394 people on South Carolina roadways from not wearing their seat belts," Beres says. "Just know the South Carolina Highway Patrol wants you to wear your seat belt, and Chick- Fil-A wants you to eat more chicken."
[Via Slashfood]
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