By Amy Batista, Special Writer
CRANBURY – Buckle up or be prepared to pay up.
Police Chief Rickey Varga announced during his committee report at the Township Committee meeting on May 23 that the “Click It or Ticket” campaign had started.
Local law enforcement personnel are participating in the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign through June 5 in an effort to save lives through increased seat-belt use. This enforcement period started ahead of the Memorial Day holiday, one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, according to a press release.
“Patrols are out there now,” said Chief Varga. “I received a text message that they are doing quite well with it. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing.”
Over the past couple of years, Cranbury police have been the top 10 in the state in enforcement of the program, according to the chief.
“So for a small department to be consistently the last couple of years in the top 10 and get the grant money that we receive, $5,000, is quite an accomplishment,” he said.
Township Committeeman James “Jay” Taylor asked if police were doing random stops.
With his answer, Chief Varga explained to the committee how the program works.
“What we will do is do it in different locations and we will just have officers either sitting on the side or standing by where red lights are,” said the chief. “They will walk out as the lights turn red into traffic. Anybody not wearing one (a seatbelt) will be pulled over.”
Chief Varga said that officers particularly like to look at children and juveniles and car seats to make sure they are properly secured in their seats.
“That’s a great concern for us,” he said.
According to research conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, while 88.5 percent of passenger vehicle occupants buckled up in 2015, almost 50 percent of occupants of fatal crashes nationwide are not restrained.
In some states, the rate is as high as 70 percent unrestrained in fatal crashes.
This year, NHTSA is aiming to increase campaign participation even more by coordinating a “Coast to Coast” seat-belt enforcement effort, to include all law enforcement around specific interstate corridors, such as I-10, I-40, I-70, and I-80. This effort does not limit “Click It or Ticket” enforcement to these corridors, or prevent states from participating in the campaign; rather, these corridors will serve to link and highlight the “Coast to Coast” seat-belt enforcement effort.
For more information on the “Click It or Ticket” campaign, visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.
