By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Lawrence Township police officers will be on the prowl for the next 10 days, looking for drivers and their passengers who have not buckled up their seat belts during the national "Click It or Ticket" campaign, which begins May 19 and ends June 1.
The annual initiative plays a critical role in the effort to keep people safe on the nation’s roads and highways, said Lt. Thomas Ritter of the Lawrence Township Police Department. The goal is to ensure that drivers and passengers recognize the life-saving value of seat belts.
"Using a seat belt is the simplest way for someone to protect themselves when riding in a car or truck," Lt. Ritter said. "Occupants who use a seat belt increase their chance of surviving a crash by as much as 75 percent."
New Jersey’s primary seat belt law requires all drivers and passengers in the front seat, including passengers under 18 years old, to wear a seat belt or be securely buckled in a car seat, or face a $46 fine. The ticket is issued to the driver.
Legislation passed in 2010 made it a secondary offense for adults over 18 years old to ride unbuckled in the back seat of a car. The law allows police to issue a summons and fine of $46 to unrestrained adults in the back seat when the car they are riding in is pulled over for another violation.
Last year, front seat belt usage was 91 percent, Lt. Ritter said. The goal is to have a 100-percent compliance rate. In addition to front seat seat belt usage, the campaign will focus on rear seat passengers, who are also required to buckle up.
In the event of a crash, unbelted back seat passengers become bullets, putting themselves and everyone in the car at risk, according to www.njbackseatbullets.com. That’s because unbelted back seat passengers continue to move at the same rate of speed as the car they are riding in — until they hit the seat back, the dashboard, the windshield, the driver or another passenger.
It is also not uncommon for unbelted passengers to be thrown from the car and either crushed by that car or another one on the road. About 800 lives and 65,000 injuries could be prevented annually if 95 percent of rear seat passengers used their seat belts, according to the State University of New York’s Center for Transportation Injury Research.
Meanwhile, during the 2013 "Click It or Ticket" campaign, Lawrence police officers issued 485 tickets for seat belt violations. On the lookout for other violations, the police issued 29 tickets to motorists who were driving while their license was suspended.
Lawrence police officers also handed out 12 tickets to motorists who were driving without insurance; one ticket for driving under the influence and five each for speeding and child-restraint violations. They also apprehended 16 people who were wanted on warrants issued by other towns.
Statewide, police handed out more than 26,000 tickets for seat belt violations. They also made 860 drunk driving arrests and more than 1,400 fugitives.
