South Brunswick Police To Participate In Click It Or Ticket

South Brunswick police will participate in a nationside seat belt enforcement campaign that kicks off Monday.

Police will crack down on drivers and passenger who fail to buckle up, as part of the national “Click it or Ticket” campaign.

The campaign runs from Monday until May 31, and “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 life­saving value of seat belts,’’ according to a news release.

“Using a seat belt is the simplest way for a driver and his or her passengers to protect themselves when traveling,” Gary Poedubicky, acting Director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, said in a prepared statement. “In 2012 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 12,000 lives nationwide.”

Front seat belts are used in New Jersey a rate of about 87.6 percent, but the goal is to raise the number to 90 percent this year.

This year’s campaign will also focus on backseat passenger and include nighttime enforcement, because seat belt usage is generally lower at night, the news release said.

Some 374 police departments participated in last year’s campaign, when officers issued 26,635 seat belt citations, 4,363 speeding summonses and charged 944 people with drunk driving.