Police step up enforcement during ‘Click It or Ticket’ campaign
By DAILY PRESS STAFF
CITYWIDE Police officers will be paying close attention to drivers and their passengers during the month of May as they look to step up enforcement of the state’s seat belt law.
The Santa Monica Police Department will be joining more than 280 law enforcement agencies statewide in this year’s “Click It or Ticket” awareness campaign, taking place May 12 through June 1.
The campaign relies on heavy enforcement and public education as a means to help California achieve the highest seat belt use rate in the nation. California currently has the nation’s fourth highest seat belt use rate at 94.6 percent, according to law enforcement authorities.
“We want to make sure that all drivers and passengers buckle up on every ride, day and night,” said SMPD Chief Timothy Jackman. “Our officers will be on the lookout for those who are not buckled up and for teens and children not riding properly restrained. We will not accept excuses or give warnings. It’s click it or ticket.”
Santa Monica has a fairly high buckle up rate, around the low 90s, said SMPD Sgt. Larry Horn, who has heard all kinds of excuses for why people aren’t wearing their safety belts during his days as a motorcycle officer.
“We hear things like it’s broken, or it’s not my car, or I just took it off for a moment,” Horn said. “Regularly we get people who as soon as they see you, they put it on, and by then, it’s too late … Some have argued with me,‘Well what if I fall into the water and can’t get out of my car?’Yeah, what if, what if.”
California has a primary seat belt law which requires that every person in the car wear a seat belt at all times.
If stopped and found to be in violation, officers will issue citations without warning. Tickets for first seat belt violations range from $80 to $91 for adults and $330 to $401 for children under the age of 16, depending on the county.
Additionally, children age 12 and under are required to ride properly restrained in the back seat to protect them in case an airbag is deployed.
“We’re doing well with nearly 95 percent buckling up, fourth highest in the nation,” said Christopher J. Murphy, director of the California Office of Traffic Safety.“That’s 1.5 million more people protected from death and injury by using seat belts since the Click It or Ticket campaign started in 2005. But we can do better yet. I urge everyone to always buckle up.”
While the buckle up rate for adults has continued to climb in recent years, California’s teen seat belt use rate lags behind the general population. In 2007, California’s teen seat belt use rate was 88.9 percent, well below the state rate of 94.6 percent for the same year.
Agencies are encouraged to conduct nighttime patrols in an effort to boost compliance after dark.
Funding for officer overtime to support California’s Click It or Ticket campaign was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 8, 2008. Read the original PDF.