CGPD Warns Motorists: Click it or Ticket

The Cedar Grove Police Department has announced that it will again be participating in the national seat belt enforcement mobilization program “Click It or Ticket”.

The enforcement and education campaign will run from May 23 – June 5, 2011, during which time, officers will intensify enforcement of child passenger safety laws and seat belt laws.

The ultimate goal of the “Click It or Ticket” program is to increase the statewide safety belt usage rate to 100 percent.  Last year, the front seat belt usage rate in New Jersey rose for the 14th consecutive year to 93.73%. However, adult back seat belt usage stands at only 27 percent, despite new legislation requiring all back seat passengers to buckle up.

Because nighttime passenger vehicle occupants are among those least likely to buckle up and most likely to die in crashes when unrestrained, nighttime enforcement will be a priority during the “Click It or Ticket” mobilization.

Nationally in 2009, 11,953 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in motor vehicle crashes at night (6 p.m. to 6 a.m.). Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) who died were not wearing seat belts.

New Jersey seat belt laws apply to all motor vehicles that are required to be equipped with seat belts, and each driver and all passengers over the age of eight. Children up to age eight or eighty pounds must ride in a safety or booster seat in the rear of the vehicle. Children under the age of eight who weigh more than eighty pounds must wear a seat belt.

During the mobilization period, the Cedar Grove Police Department will be on special alert for violators of New Jersey’s seat belt and child passenger safety laws. Roving patrols and seat belt check points are being planned as part of Cedar Grove’s “Click It or Ticket” effort.