Eighty-seven municipal police departments across southeast Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania State Police will conduct seatbelt enforcement activities as part of a statewide Click It Or Ticket mobilization which runs from May 16 through June 5 and will include the Memorial holiday weekend.
Municipal police departments from Bucks County, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties will focus on roadways with high unbelted crashes, injuries and deaths by initiating a combination of enforcement and public awareness activities.
The enforcement, coupled with educational outreach efforts, aims to increase seatbelt use and raise awareness of the state’s primary law stating all vehicle occupants under 18 years old must wear a seatbelt. Drivers and front-seat passengers over 18 years old who are cited for another traffic violation will receive a second ticket if they’re unbuckled.
The enforcement is coordinated through PennDOT’s Buckle Up PA program and involves conducting seatbelt enforcement every month on roadways which data shows have low seatbelt use and high unbelted-crash rates. The effort supplements major enforcement mobilizations in May and June, as well as the Thanksgiving holiday during which PennDOT distributes $1.1 million statewide in federal enforcement funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Pennsylvania recorded another decrease in seatbelt use in 2015 with an observed rate of 83.6%. This is the lowest rate since 2005. The proper use of a seatbelt can increase your chances of surviving a crash by up to 60 percent.
