Hundreds of motorists stopped in seat-belt campaign

Police push ‘Click It or Ticket’ effort.

By: David Campbell
   Strap on your seat belts, Princeton.
   As the Memorial Day holiday weekend begins, police in Princeton Borough and Princeton Township are cracking down on motorists and front-seat passengers who violate New Jersey’s Primary Seat Belt Law, which makes buckling up mandatory.
   The zero-tolerance campaign is part of a nationwide "Click It or Ticket" mobilization being conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an arm of the federal Department of Transportation whose mission is to reduce death and injuries on the highway.
   With the help of grant money from the NHTSA to cover overtime hours logged by officers during the campaign, the borough and township join more than 12,000 state and local law-enforcement agencies in a drive to promote auto safety with tough love: a $42 summons for the beltless, but no points.
   Police in Princeton are getting their message out — in spades. At random checkpoints at intersections of downtown and township roads, officers are giving out tickets by the dozens, with the expectation, said township police Capt. Peter Savalli, that ticketing will decline as awareness — and with it compliance — increases.
   Township police began the random stops Monday, and expect to continue with them through the holiday weekend and finish on May 30. As of Wednesday alone, almost 100 summonses were issued, Capt. Savalli said.
   The stops caused something of a stir this week downtown, where borough police conducted checkpoints at Witherspoon and Nassau streets, as well as in the areas of University Place and the intersection of Route 206 and Leigh Avenue, to name a few, according to borough police Sgt. Donald Dawson.
   Cars were seen queued up on the sides of roads as police gave out tickets. Some motorists reportedly drew multiple summonses, either for repeat offenses or for the seat belt and other traffic violations.
   When officers on foot at signaled intersections spot noncomplying drivers, they direct them to a designated area where they are quickly processed and released. Borough police gave out nearly 60 seat-belt tickets and nearly 30 warnings as of Wednesday, Sgt. Dawson said.
   "Nobody has really given us a hard time about being pulled over for it," the sergeant said. "For the most part they knew, ‘I should have had it on.’"
   According to Sami Richie, regional program manager with the NHTSA in White Plains, N.Y., the intent of the "Click It or Ticket" campaign is not enforcement as such, and of course it isn’t intended to annoy.
   "The intent is educational," Mr. Richie said. "The intent is, in fact, to have people buckle up. But we have reached the point where the last 25 percent of the population is not buckling up. They are the hardest to reach.
   The use of safety belts is the most effective lifesaving measure that can be taken by vehicle occupants, Mr. Richie continued.
   The NHTSA estimates that message has reached about 75 percent of the driving public, and about 69 percent among teens and young adults. Through the two-week, high-visibility campaign, the federal agency hopes to boost that figure to around 78 percent, even if it means getting under some drivers’ skin.
   "The best measure seems to be a combination of public information and an enforcement campaign to make sure they buckle up," Mr. Richie said.
   Tim Hurd, a spokesman for the NHTSA in Washington, said seat-belt use is 8 percent higher in states that conduct high-visibility enforcement. In the past, the agency has conducted campaigns like this one over holidays like Labor Day, Fourth of July and, of course, Memorial Day, Mr. Hurd said.
   According to statistics compiled by the NHTSA, auto deaths are the leading cause of death for people up to 33 years old. In 100 auto crashes that result in death, a seat belt would have saved a life in half of those accidents, the spokesman continued.
   "It takes a second to do and would save your life in half the crashes that would kill you," Mr. Hurd said. "Auto deaths are a tremendous threat to public health."
   Several Princeton officials contacted this week said they weren’t aware of the program. Among those contacted for this story, though, Princeton Township Committeeman Bernard Miller may be the least likely to get a ticket under the "Click It or Ticket" campaign.
   Mr. Miller, who flew in the Air Force in the 1950s, said he discovered the value of lap and shoulder belts in his work on aviation safety. For the committeeman today, wearing a seat belt is a no-brainer.
   "I believe in it," Mr. Miller said. "In the car, wearing a safety belt is second nature."