Crime & Safety
Memorial Day Holiday Seatbelt Campaign Starts
Since nearly half those killed in car crashes weren't wearing one, "Click It Or Ticket" say police taking part in the Hudson Valley.
Aimed at enforcing seat belt use to help keep families safe, a national seat belt campaign will take place May 21 through June 3, concurrent with the busy travel season. Reminding motorists to "Click It or Ticket," Ramapo is one of the local police departments taking part.
Buckling up is such a simple task that can keep you and your family safe in the car. But it’s more than that. Buckling up is the law. "Our officers see the consequences of not buckling up," Ramapo Police said in a statement. We see the loss of life. Often, it could have been prevented with the simple click of a seatbelt. 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. At night from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., that number soared to 56 percent of those killed. That’s why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement.
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Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night.
If you know a friend or a family member who does not buckle up when they drive, ask them to consider changing their habits. Help 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.
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"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," Ramapo police said. "If the enforcement crackdown wakes people up to the dangers of unrestrained driving, we’ll consider it a success."
Go here for more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization.
Image via Shutterstock
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