PennDOT, Police Team Up to Get Drivers to Buckle Up
Don’t forget to click it, or you’ll get a ticket.
Officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and local law enforcement agencies announced efforts to increase safety on local roads by getting motorists to “Click It or Ticket.”
The Click It or Ticket effort will run from today through June 12.
Lou Belmont, PennDOT traffic engineer, explained that 92 law enforcement agencies in the five-county Philadelphia region received Click It or Ticket grants from PennDOT to create awareness for seatbelt safety.
He said 82 percent of Pennsylvania drivers buckle up, which is good but not good enough.
“Last year, there were 524 unbuckled highway fatalities,” he said, which was a 16.2 percent increase over 2009. Of those fatalities, 12 were in Bucks County and 14 in Montgomery County.
According to PennDOT, of all Pennsylvania’s traffic fatalities last year, 75 percent were not wearing seat belts.
In Bucks County, 27 police departments shared $41,450 in Click It or Ticket grants from PennDOT and 20 Montgomery County departments shared $52,650.
The grants cover overtime and equipment costs for seatbelt enforcement this year.
Gordon Beck, law enforcement liaison for Buckle Up Pennsylvania, a PennDOT program dedicated to raising seatbelt usage, told the media that officers would be manning Traffic Enforcement Zones (TEZ) today on Street Road in Lower Southampton and Upper Southampton as part of the effort. TEZs target enforcement on areas with high unbuckled-crash rates.
In those areas, officers will be handing out Click It or Ticket warnings to drivers which explain Pennsylvania’s seatbelt laws.
Beck said officers would put a special emphasis on evening hours when seatbelt usage is traditionally lower.
In this state, seatbelt infractions are a secondary offense, which means that police don’t stop drivers for seatbelt violations alone. They can issue seatbelt tickets if they stop drivers for other offenses.
wayne heiser
7:13 pm on Monday, May 23, 2011
i dont understand how the goverment has the right to make you wear a seat belt this has to be un constitutional just like the helmit law was struck down years ago
Nicole e curry
9:20 pm on Monday, May 23, 2011
WELL IF NO DONT WEAR SEATBELT THE CHANCES ARE PRETTY GOOD WHEN YOU GET INTO AN ACCIDENT AND WONDER WHY YOU GO THOUGH THE WINDSHEILD DUH STUPID MEN
wayne heiser
5:58 am on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
thats my point it's my choice not the goverments
Bruce Chew
6:56 am on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Wayne, are you willing to pay a higher insurance premium to have that choice? I don't think I should have to pay higher insurance rates because some people choose not to wear seat belts / helmets and therefore are prone to more significant injuries during an accident. What about waiving your rights to any state or federal medical assistance once your motor vehicle insurance medical limits are reached? Why should I have to pay (indirectly) for other people's reckless choices?
wayne heiser
7:20 am on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
don't you understand the ins.co paid the law makers to make this law. me getting hurt in an accident has no bearing on you unless you caused the accident. somebody had the helmit law changed i hope they do the same for this law
Jeff Lugar
7:15 am on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
I'm all for choice; wearing a seat belt or a helmet should not be a requirement for operating a motor vehicle, much like failure to use a dictionary or punctuation marks apparently doesn't disqualify people from commenting on news websites.
But I have to agree with Bruce overall. I'm actually surprised insurance companies haven't said that signing up with them is implied consent that you'll wear safety equipment while on the road, and if you're in an accident and proven to not be using a seat belt or helmet, coverage is revoked. It'll still be your choice, just a potentially expensive one.
wayne heiser
7:36 am on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
jeff I might not be a good writer but it is still not the goverments right to tell me i have to pertect my self soon this will be like living in a communist country.
wayne heiser
7:47 am on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
also I would like to know why police don't have to wear seat belts and also school buses and septa buses
Bruce Chew
8:01 am on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Wayne,
Police officers are not exempt from wearing seat belts. If you see an officer not wearing a seat belt you are able to report that officer by contact that police department's headquarters.
As for buses, passengers on school buses and mass transit buses are exempt from wearing seat belts because of the design of the bus itself, an idea called compartmentalization. The NHTSA (DOT) has studied this topic for more than 30 years and all research data supports the "no use of seat belts" on full size buses.
Several states over the last few years have passed seat belt laws for school buses, however, their is not approved restraint system for buses currently. Standard seat belts have been shown to be more hazardous on school buses.
Smaller buses "the short bus" are treated just like passenger vehicles and are required to use seat belts for their passengers.
wayne heiser
9:33 am on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
do you really think anything would be done to the officer and as far as buses go a law is a law that should be for everybody if there's no way to make it work on buses than they should get rid of the law as they did with the helmit law. this reminds me of obama care some people get waivers and others have to obey the law. I respect your opinions and I hope you mine thanks for your input.
Scott Johnson
9:34 am on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Thanks Bruce for that Information, I always wondered why School buses didn't have seat belts.
Scott Johnson
9:45 am on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Wayne, Different vehicles require different levels of safety. Equal protection under the law applies to people not rules on what level of safety a particular type of vehicle needs. Since every vehicle has it's own safety requirements depending on it's design.
Just a note, but Seat belt laws are not federal laws, they are made on the state level. The Federal government is not involved in enforcing seat belt regulations.
valerie
5:23 pm on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Wow what don't you get? I am tired of coating for your persistent vegetative state because you didn't pour your helmut on or didn't buckle up. Its called progressive learning. As time goes on, we learn more about safety. Many years ago, there were no seatbelts, or airbags. Just be safe, please.
valerie
5:24 pm on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Sorry "paying for vegetative state"
wayne heiser
6:03 pm on Tuesday, May 24, 2011
valerie how do you explain more head injury's in hockey now then when they didnot wear head gear
Dave Mac
1:03 am on Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Wayne- The seat belt is designed to keep you in the car, in front of the airbags, so when they go off( if they do), you can have the energy disbursed and therefore protecting your head/neck/chest, etc. By choosing not to wear your seatbelt the potential for far greater injury and longterm cost is significantly increased. Many who choose not to wear seatbelts, end up with medicaid or other governmental agencies picking up the tab for longterm medical care and in the end the taxpayers funding your care. If you wore the seatbelt in the first place, your injuries most likely wouldve been reduced and your medical expenses much less. Why should monies that could be better spent, go to cover your care for your ignorance of proven safety?. Seat belts save MANY lives. I worked for years in EMS and the fire service and continue to work in a trauma center, I see the truth everyday. Your supposed right to "exercise your freedom" often comes at others $$.
wayne heiser
6:29 am on Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Your supposed right to "exercise your freedom" that is the problem mac it used to be our right now it's our( supposed right) all this is about is ins.co. paying politicians to pass a law I bet all of you good people text or talk on your phones every day while driving and dont see anything wrong with it.