Issued 234 tickets in two weeks; behind only Princeton, Pennsauken
By karl vilacoba
Staff Writer
The Brick Police Department placed third among 69 law enforcement agencies that were awarded grants for their participation in the summer’s "Click It or Ticket" seat belt enforcement campaign.
In a two-week period earlier this summer, Brick’s officers wrote 234 tickets for seat belt violations. Only Princeton Township (260) and Pennsauken (256) had higher numbers.
Brick Police Lt. Douglas Kinney said he can’t understand why the seat belt — an easy to use, non-obstructive safety device –– is not more widely used among motorists.
"We’re pretty aggressive in our enforcement of the seat belt laws all year round," Kinney said. "When we just focus on seat belt enforcement, we have no trouble getting high numbers."
New Jersey is participating in the national "Click It or Ticket" effort, which focuses on education and the enforcement of seat belt laws, said Bob Gaydosh, spokesman for the Division of Highway Traffic Safety in the state Department of Law and Public Safety.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ran an $11 million television advertising campaign to educate the public on the program and the importance of seat belt safety, Gaydosh said.
To supplement that effort, the state ran a $487,000 radio advertisement campaign to do the same on more of a regional level.
Signs reading "Click It or Ticket" are being posted along major roadways all across the state to remind people to fasten their safety belts, said Gaydosh.
Municipal police departments all over the state were encouraged to participate in the "Buckle Up America" program, part of the "Click It or Ticket" effort, which ran May 19 through June 1, Gaydosh said. During those two weeks, municipal police heavily enforced the seat belt laws.
There will be another two-week period, Nov. 18 through Dec. 1, when police will be out in full force enforcing the seat belt laws, said Lt. Stephen Schmidt of the Hazlet Police Department, which participates in the program.
The 267 police departments statewide that participated in the program had officers work overtime with the specific goal of ticketing people who were not wearing their seat belts, Gaydosh said.
In Brick, police enforced the law — one car at a time — in four-hour blocks during the program’s two-week run, Kinney said.
Over that time, there were 22,941 seat belt tickets given out, statewide, Gaydosh said.
The state distributed grants to 69 of the 267 departments that participated in "Buckle Up America." The Brick Police Department received $3,600 in grants for its participation.
Other local police departments to place high on the list of tickets issued were Freehold Township (11th with 198) and Jackson (46th with 111).
Drivers and front-seat passengers must wear seat belts according to state law NJS 39:376.2f. A passenger who is at least 8 years old, but less than 18 years old, must wear a seat belt, even when riding in the back seat of a car. The driver is responsible for ensuring that all passengers under age 18 are safely secured in the vehicle, according to state law.
Any child under the age of 8, or any person under 80 pounds, must ride in a safety or booster seat in the back of the vehicle, according to state law NJS 39:376.2a.
Statewide seat belt use by drivers and passengers has steadily increased over the past seven years, Gaydosh said.
A state survey on seat belt use conducted last month revealed that 81.2 percent of the public uses seat belts, up 0.7 percent from last year.
In 2000, Gaydosh said, the primary seat belt law that allows police officers to pull over drivers simply because the occupants of the vehicle are not safely secured, was enacted.
Before 2000, only 65 percent of New Jersey drivers and passengers were wearing seat belts, according to the New Jersey State Police.
According to national statistics, wearing a seat belt reduces the chance of injury in a motor vehicle accident by 50 percent, and reduces the chance of death in a motor vehicle accident by 45 percent.
More than 42,000 people have been killed on U.S. highways in the past year, said New Jersey State Police Capt. Thomas Dreher, the traffic bureau chief.
"Last year, more than 750 people were killed on New Jersey’s roads," said Roberto Rodriguez, the Highway Traffic Safety director. "The real tragedy is that many of these lives could have been saved."
Staff writer Maura Dowgin and correspondent Erin Romanski also contributed to this story