Police Conducting Seatbelt Click It or Ticket Campaign

Police departments throughout Essex County are warning drivers and passengers to wear their seatbelts or they can expect a ticket. 

Local departments will be participating in the national Click It or Ticket seatbelt campaign through June 2 to crack down on unbuckled motorists and passengers. 

The annual initiative includes high visibility law enforcement seat belt checkpoints and saturation patrols, as well as local and national publicity designed to ensure that drivers and passengers recognize the life-saving value of seat belts.  

The enforcement effort in Essex County is being coordinated through the Essex County College Police Academy Community Traffic Safety Program and is funded through a grant from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety.

“Using a seat belt is the simplest way for a driver and his or her passengers to protect themselves when traveling,” said Gary Poedubicky, acting director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety. "In 2010 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 12,546 lives nationwide.”

Poedubicky added that the campaign will focus on rear seat passengers, as well. Despite laws requiring adult back seat passengers to buckle up, adult back seat belt use stands at only 36 percent.

Last year, 21 of 25 police agencies in Essex County participated in last year’s Click It or Ticket campaign. In 2012, officers issued 1,600 seat belt summonses issued, but also made the streets safer by issuing:

• 33 DWI arrests
• 47 summonses issued for not securing a child in a child safety seat
• 26 felony arrests
• 15 stolen vehicles recovered
• 54 fugitives apprehended 166 suspended license summonses
• 32 uninsured drivers sited
• 206 speeding tickets issued
• 6 reckless driver summonses
• 31 drug arrests
• 2,735 other motor vehicle violation summonses. 

Nationally in 2012, 425 police agencies participated in the two-week initiative. As a result of the effort, law enforcement officers issued 29,307 seat belt citations, 4,951 speeding summonses and made 861 drunken driving arrests.