Press Releases
News - Archive
Released: 5/16/2013
Annual “Click it or Ticket” Seat Belt Public Awareness Campaign Begins Monday
DRPA Police Combat Motor Vehicle Fatalities with Enforcement, Education
The Delaware River Port Authority Public Safety Department will join law enforcement professionals from across the United States in the Click it or Ticket seat belt awareness campaign for two weeks beginning on Monday, May 20.
DRPA police efforts will focus on stepping up enforcement of New Jersey’s primary seat belt law and on educating motorists about the importance of buckling up in moving vehicles.
“The federal government, the states and insurance companies have been collecting car crash data for decades, and their conclusions are clear and consistent,” said DRPA Chief of Police John L. Stief. “Seat belts save lives and so do officers who remind drivers and passengers to buckle up.”
Click it or Ticket is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and supports New Jersey’s annual effort to increase seat belt use through enforcement and public education. Variable message signs at all four DRPA bridges will inform drivers about the Click it or Ticket campaign.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has concluded that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of five and 34. Seat belts reduce serious crash-related injuries and deaths by about 50 percent.
States with primary enforcement seatbelt laws – which allow police officers to stop a vehicle and issue tickets when one or more passengers are not wearing seat belts – have a significantly higher buckle-up rate (88 percent) than states that have a secondary enforcement seat belt law or no seat belt law at all (79 percent), according to CDC figures.
Secondary enforcement laws allow police to issue tickets for seat belt violations only when a driver has been pulled over for another offense.
Besides New Jersey, 31 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories have enacted primary enforcement seatbelt laws.
Click it or Ticket was launched in North Carolina in 1993. Since then, national seat belt use has increased from approximately 65 percent to more than 85 percent, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.
###
The Delaware River Port Authority is a regional transportation agency that connects millions of people and businesses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The DRPA owns and operates the PATCO commuter rail line and the Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross toll bridges. The DRPA also owns the RiverLink Ferry. For more information, see our website: www.drpa.org. Follow us on Twitter: @DRPA_PaandNJ.
[ Return to List ]