(file photo)
Eighty-seven municipal police departments across southeast Pennsylvania are joining Pennsylvania State Police to conduct “seat belt enforcement activities” as part of a statewide “Click It Or Ticket” mobilization which runs through June 5.
Municipal police departments from Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties are focusing on roadways with high unbelted crash rates, injuries and deaths by initiating a combination of enforcement and public awareness activities.
The goal is to increase seat belt use and spread the word on the state’s primary law stating all vehicle occupants under 18 years old must wear a seat belt, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). Drivers and front-seat passengers over 18 years old who are cited for another traffic violation are receiving a second ticket if they’re unbuckled.
The enforcement is coordinated through PennDOT’s “Buckle Up PA” program, and involves conducting seat-belt enforcement every month on roadways which data shows have low seat-belt use and high unbelted crash rates. The effort supplements other enforcement mobilizations in May, June, and during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Pennsylvania recorded another decrease in seat belt use in 2015, with an observed rate of 83.6% — the lowest since 2005, says PennDOT. Statistics show that seat belts can increase chances of surviving a crash by up to 60 percent.
According to PennDOT data, there were 3,440 crashes in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties in 2015 in which people were not wearing seat belts, with 64 people dying in those crashes.
Lambertville Police say they will also be cracking down on beltless drivers from May 23 to June 5.
Really? And you let bikers ride without helmets. This is stupid. Glad I moved out of the state.