Law enforcement officers from the Lakewood Police Department will join with police from around the country in cracking down on unbuckled motorists and passengers as part of the national “Click it or Ticket” campaign.

Beginning today, May 23, and running through June 5, the annual “Click It or Ticket” national mobilization utilizes high visibility seat belt checkpoints and saturation patrols, in combination with local and national publicity efforts, to reiterate the life-saving value of seat belts.

“Using a seat belt is the simplest way for a driver and his or her passengers to protect themselves when traveling,” said Gary Poedubicky, Acting Director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety. “In 2013, 21,000 people in the U.S. were killed in traffic crashes, and almost half of them were unrestrained.”

Poedubicky added that a key focus of this year’s campaign is to promote seat belt usage by adults in the rear seats of vehicles. The front seat belt usage rate in New Jersey currently stands at 91.36%. However, adults riding in rear seats are only buckling up at a rate of 39%. “This is a concern,” he said. “We need to drive home the message that all motor vehicle occupants need to buckle up during every trip, in every seating position.”

During the 2015 “Click it or Ticket” campaign, 372 New Jersey police agencies participated in the two-week initiative. As a result of the effort, law enforcement officers issued 26,308 seat belt citations, 4,969 speeding summonses and made 833 impaired driving arrests.

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