Watertown Police Will Take Part in Seat Belt Usage Enforcement Effort

warn that there will be a “blitz” on enforcement of seat belt use, beginning on May 23.

The department joins 190 other police departments, the State Police and the Executive Office of Public Safety & Security Highway Safety Division to take part in the effort, known as “Click It or Ticket,” said Watertown Police Lt. Michael Lawn.

The program’s message to drivers and passengers in Massachusetts is that seat belts should always be worn, or be ready to face the consequences. When police pull over a vehicle for other traffic violations they will be checking to make sure drivers and passengers are belted in.

The period from May 23 to June 5 will be the first seat belt enforcement mobilization as part of an effort to reduce the number of motor vehicle injuries and fatalities.

“Injuries caused by motor vehicle accidents cost the taxpayers and businesses hundreds of millions of dollars every year,” said Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau in a release. “We can help reduce those costs by making sure people buckle up, every trip, every time.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that, based on known usage, 52 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in Massachusetts in 2009 were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash. That is 3 percent higher than the national average.

“While it may just sound like a statistic, those of us at the Watertown Police Department know from personal experience that those are actual faces of mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and friends right here in Watertown,” Deveau said. “We tell too many families about losses that may have been prevented had a loved one only worn a seat belt.”

Watertown Police applied for the federal grant to be part of the Click It or Ticket program to prevent more such losses Deveau said.

For more information, visit www.mass.gov/highwaysafety.