Eatontown's Click It or Ticket Campaign Begins This Month

The Eatontown Police Department will be cracking down on unbuckled motorists and their passengers as part of the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign.

Eatontown Police Traffic Safety Officer Anthony Guido said the program will begin on May 21 and run through June 3.

"The annual initiative includes high visibility law enforcement seat belt checkpoints and saturation patrols, as well as local and national publicity designed to ensure that drivers and passengers recognize the lifesaving value of seatbelts," Officer Guido said.

The New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety (NJDHTS) posted in its 2011 report and stated that buckling up reduces the risk of fatal injury by 45 percent and moderate or critical injury by 50 percent.

The report added that “a survey conducted by the New Jersey Institute of Technology found that the state’s front seat belt usage has risen for the 15th consecutive year from 93.73 percent in 2009 to 94.51 percent."

"Unfortunately, rear seat belt usage continues to lag behind, with the newest surveys showing that rate to be only 61 percent (all passengers) and just 35 percent for adults 18 and older," the report continues.

During the two week campaign in 2011, 419 agencies statewide issued 32,228 seat belt citations, down from 35,671 the previous year. Police officers also wrote 926 child restraint citations, 5,865 speeding citations and made 953 D.W.I. arrests.

The campaign is funded locally by grants received by the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety and will also focus on rear seat passenger seat belt and child restraint usage this year.