Law enforcement officers from the Hopewell Township Police Department will join with police from around the country in cracking down on unbuckled motorists and passengers as part of the national “Click it or Ticket” campaign.
Beginning May 22 and running through June 4, the annual “Click It or Ticket” national mobilization utilizes high visibility seat belt checkpoints and saturation patrols, in combination with local and national publicity efforts, to reiterate the life-saving value of seat belts.
The most effective device for preventing deaths and injuries in motor vehicle crashes remains the seat belt. When used consistently, seat belts save lives and reduce serious injuries. According to NHTSA, of the 23,824 vehicle occupants killed nationally in 2020, 51% were not wearing seat belts. Seat belts saved an estimated 14,955 lives and could have saved an additional 2,549 people if they had been wearing seat belts, in 2017 alone.
In New Jersey, the main focus of these patrols will be to stop and issue summonses to motorists, front, and rear seat passengers who are not complying with the state’s seat belt laws.
During the 2019 “Click it or Ticket” campaign, 343 New Jersey police agencies participated in the two-week initiative. As a result of the effort, law enforcement officers issued 14,548 seat belt citations, 5,670 speeding summonses and made 168 impaired driving arrests.