Beverly Hills Police Step Up Patrols — Here's What They're Watching For

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — For the rest of the month, the Beverly Hills Police Department is ramping up patrols to enforce seatbelt and child safety seat laws.

This year’s Click It or Ticket campaign runs from May 12 to June 1. The BHPD will have extra officers on patrol looking for drivers who are not wearing a seat belt and to ensure children are secured in safety seats — and the right safety seats for their age, officials said.

“Wearing a seat belt should be automatic for all drivers and passengers every trip,” BHPD Chief Mark Stainbrook said. “Seat belts save lives, and everyone — front seat and back, child and adult — needs to remember always to buckle up.”

Here's what California law requires

• All children under 2 must ride in a rear-facing car seat, unless the child is 40 or more pounds or is 40 or more inches tall
• All children under the age of 8, regardless of height and weight, must be in a car seat or a booster seat
• Children under 8 may not ride in the front seat unless the vehicle is not equipped with a rear, forward-facing seat
• Children 8 or older, or who are at least 4-foot-9, may be secured in a booster seat, but at minimum must wear a properly fitted seat belt

Nationally, 11,302 people killed in crashes in 2022 were not wearing seat belts. In California, 842 people killed in crashes in 2022 were not wearing seat belts, a decrease of 8.4 percent from 2021, according to police.

Funding for enforcement in Beverly Hills was funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.