Belt Up, Banning! Police Out Checking For Seat-Belted Drivers: What To Know

BANNING, CA — The Banning Police Department reminds all Pass Area travelers to always buckle up and secure children in the right car seats when visiting friends and family.

During this year’s Click It or Ticket campaign, which runs from May 18 to 31, the Banning Police Department patrol officers are looking for drivers and passengers who are not wearing seat belts.

This includes vehicles in which children are not secured in child safety seats or the appropriate safety seats for their age, according to Acting Capt. Brandon Smith.

“Our priority is protecting the people in our community. Wearing a seat belt or properly securing children in car seats or a booster seat gives everyone a better chance of surviving a crash,” Smith said. “We want every trip – short or long – to end safely, so please buckle up every time.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2023, 10,484 people killed in crashes in the U.S. were not wearing a seat belt. In California, there were 780 unrestrained people killed in crashes that same year, including
24 children. Additionally, unrestrained child fatalities in California increased by 4.3 percent from 2022 to 2023.

California law requires all children under 2 years old to ride in a rear-facing car seat unless the child weighs 40 pounds or more or is 40 inches tall or more.

Once a child reaches these milestones, all children under the age of 8 years are still required to be secured in a car seat or booster seat.

Children under the age of 8 may not ride in the front seat unless the vehicle is not equipped with a rear, forward-facing seat. Children 8 and older, or who are at least 4 feet 9 inches tall, may be secured by a booster seat, but at a minimum must be wearing a properly fitted safety belt.

Parents and caregivers are encouraged to keep children in the proper rear or forward-facing seat as long as possible and use the “Five-Step Test” to determine if their child is big enough to safely use a seat belt without a booster seat.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.