Norwalk Police Join Click It Or Ticket Campaign

NORWALK, CT — Over Memorial Day weekend, the highways typically fill with families in vehicles on their way to start their summer vacations. To help keep drivers and passengers stay safe, Norwalk police are reminding drivers to Click It or Ticket.

According to a news release, the Click It or Ticket campaign is aimed at enforcing seat belt use to help keep families safe. The national campaign will take place May 21 through June 3, concurrent with the busy travel season.

“Buckling up is such a simple task that can keep you and your family safe in the car,” Lieutenant Terrence Blake said in a release. “But it’s more than that. Buckling up is the law. Our law enforcement personnel see the consequences of not buckling up. We see the loss of life. Often, it could have been prevented with the simple click of a seat belt. This should be automatic.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly half (48 percent) of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2016 were unrestrained. From 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., that number soared to 56 percent of those killed, police said.

“As the Memorial Day weekend approaches and the summer vacation season ramps up, we want to keep our community members safe, and make sure people are doing the one thing that can save them in a crash: buckling up,” Blake said. “If the enforcement crackdown wakes people up to the dangers of unrestrained driving, we’ll consider it a success.”

According to police, officers will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night. The maximum penalty for a seat belt violation in Connecticut is a $92 fine.

“If you know a friend or a family member who does not buckle up when they drive, please ask them to consider changing their habits,” Blake said. “Help us spread this life-saving message before one more friend or family member is killed as a result of this senseless inaction. Seat belts save lives, and everyone—front seat and back, child and adult—needs to remember to buckle up—every trip, every time.”

For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.

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