The annual ‘Click It Or Ticket’ campaign will begin in New Jersey and nationwide and will run from May 20th until June 2nd. During that timeframe, police departments across the country will conduct zero-tolerance campaigns to enforce seatbelt safety laws.
Click It Or Ticket is a high-publicity law enforcement effort that gives people more of a reason to buckle up – the increased threat of getting a ticket. Most people buckle up for safety. But for some people, it is the threat of the traffic ticket that spurs them to put on a safety belt. In Click It Or Ticket programs, programs, law enforcement agencies are asked to mobilize to focus on safety belt violations and publicize the stepped-up effort through news media and advertising. It is the two-pronged approach that makes these campaigns powerful: Not only are tickets issued to unbelted motorists, but the surrounding publicity ensures that people know they are more likely to receive a ticket for safety belt violations.
Click It Or Ticket campaigns and similar efforts have increased safety belt use in cities, states and even in an entire region of the country. In New Jersey, 357 police agencies participated in the May 2018 Click It Or Ticket Enforcement Mobilization. New Jersey’s seatbelt usage rate currently stands at 94.47%, up from 94.07% in 2017 and the highest usage rate that has been recorded.
In 2018, police issued 19,659 seat belt citations, nearly 2,000 more than they did during the 2017 campaign. Additionally, police officers wrote 534 child restraint, 4,437 speeding citations, and made 661 DWI arrests during the 2 week campaign in 2018.
Lakewood’s police force did not participate in the 2018 campaign and have not received a grant for this year’s campaign.
