BETHLEHEM — The town police department will continue to participate in the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee’s “Click It or Ticket” enforcement campaign this week.
The initiative launched last Monday and will continue running through to Sunday, June 6.
The goal of this campaign is to bring awareness to the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt every time you get into a vehicle. Police said the program is meant to be as much of an educational experience as it is an enforcement activity.
Under state law, motorists and passengers must wear a seat belt, one person per belt. The driver and front-seat passengers aged 16 or older can be fined up to $50 each should they fail to buckle up.
Every occupant must be restrained by a safety restraint. The restraint system must comply with the child height and weight recommendations determined by the manufacturer. Depending on the size of the child, the restraint system may be a safety seat or a booster seat used in combination with a lap and shoulder belt.
The driver must make sure that each passenger under age 16 obeys the law. The driver can be fined $25 to $100 and receive three driver license penalty points for each violation.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seatbelts save 15,000 lives each year. Only 1 percent of passengers who wore their seat belt were ejected from their vehicle in a crash. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently reported that of those who have died in vehicular accidents, 47 percent were not wearing their seat belts.