Law enforcement officers from the Asbury Park Police Department will join with police from around the country in cracking down on unbuckled motorists and passengers as part of the national “Click it or Ticket” campaign.
Beginning May 24 and running through June 6, the annual “Click It or Ticket” national mobilization utilizes high visibility seat belt checkpoints and saturation patrols, in combination with local and national publicity efforts, to reiterate the life-saving value of seat belts.
The most effective device for preventing deaths and injuries in motor vehicle crashes remains the seat belt. When used consistently, seat belts save lives and reduce serious injuries. According to NHTSA, seat belt use saved nearly 15,000 lives nationally in 2017 alone. In 2018, New Jersey experienced nearly 3,500 crashes where an occupant was not wearing his or her seat belt, resulting in 126 fatalities. Unbelted motorists and passengers accounted for 39-percent of the state’s motor vehicle fatalities in 2018. The most recent statewide survey, undertaken in June 2019, determined the seat belt usage rate in New Jersey to be 90.23 percent..
This project will provide funding to implement a targeted seat belt enforcement campaign in New Jersey as part of the nationwide “Click It or Ticket” seat belt mobilization. On an overtime basis, police officers will conduct special enforcement patrols issuing summonses for all violations of title 39 of the Motor Vehicle Code. The main focus of these patrols will be to stop and issue summonses to motorists, front, and rear seat passengers who are not complying with the state’s seat belt laws. Officers will also enforce the child safety restraint law as appropriate.
The overall objective is to reduce the number of unrestrained motor vehicle fatalities in the state and to increase the statewide seat belt observational rate through targeted seat belt enforcement during the 2021 Click It or Ticket Seat Belt Mobilization.
