Buckle Up for Safety

In 2011, there were 633 motor vehicle fatalities across the state, with a large number of them coming because the passenger and drivers weren’t wearing a seat belt.

However, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 135,000 lives were saved specifically because people were wearing a seat belt. To drive home that message, New Jersey police departments everywhere will be running the annual Click It or Ticket drive to raise awareness of the dangers of not wearing a seat belt.

“Buckling up is the single most effective way for a motor vehicle occupant to avoid death or serious injury in a crash,” Division of Highway Traffic Safety Acting Director Gary Poedubicky said. “During what we expect to be a highly trafficked period, motorists and their passengers need to make their safety the top priority and wear their seat belt no matter how long the journey.”

The effort will run May 21 to June 2 and is designed to increase the number of people that use seatbelts by ticketing those who don't. According to the Division of Highway Traffic Safety, New Jersey drivers are already good, with 94.51 percent of people saying the regularly use a seatbelt.

“Our goal is undoubtedly 100 percent compliance with seatbelts. While we’ve seen the front-seat usage rate climb every year for the past 14 years, passengers in the back remain at a critical risk, especially adults, who only put on a seat belt in the back 35 percent of the time” Poedubicky said.

Last year, 85 percent of New Jersey police agencies, or 419 of 493, participated in the Click It or Ticket campaign. The mobilization ran from May 23 to June 5 and resulted in 32,228 seat belt citations, down from 35,671 in 2010. Police officers also wrote 926 child restraint and 5,865 speeding citations, and made 953 DWI arrests.

Legislation passed in 2010 made it a secondary offense for adults over the age of 18 to ride unbuckled in the back seat of a motor vehicle. The law allows police to issue a summons and fine of $46 to unrestrained adults in the back seat when the car they are riding in is pulled over for another violation. The state’s primary seat belt law requires all motorists and passengers in the front seat, including passengers under the age of 18, to wear a seat belt or be securely buckled in a car seat, or face a $46 fine. This ticket is issued to the driver.

Locally, the program is funded using a $4,000 grant from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety.