Be sure to buckle up and drive safely this weekend or you may find yourself in trouble with the law.
ccording to a press release, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), and Highway Safety Network (HSN) are combining forces in a new safety campaign this holiday weekend. The three agencies will work with municipal police departments and other safety partners to bring awareness to the Click It Or Ticket program (CIOT) through June 5.
“Seat belts save lives,” said PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian. “Through continued enforcement and education, we hope to see more people buckling up and fewer fatal crashes on Pennsylvania’s roads.”
According to PSP data, there were 12,672 crashes in 2021 in which at least one occupant was not wearing their seatbelts, resulting in 378 fatalities in the commonwealth. PSP estimates that 94% or 305 passengers would have survived if they had been wearing seatbelts in 2020. Troopers investigated 844 crashes leading to eight fatalities during the 2021 Memorial Day Weekend. 1,025 individuals were cited for not wearing seat belts, and 144 tickets were issued for children not being properly secured in child safety seats. Pennsylvania law requires all passengers 18 years and younger to wear seatbelts while traveling, children 2 and under to be in rear-facing child safety seats, and all front-seat passengers to wear seatbelts.
Here is a list of public safety check events
“State police child passenger safety technicians undergo thorough training and are available to assist you,” said Major Jeremy Richard, acting PSP deputy commissioner of operations. “We encourage everyone to take advantage of this free resource to help keep their youngest passengers safe while traveling.”
“Once again, we are coordinating with our law enforcement agencies and highway safety partners during the national “Click It or Ticket” enforcement campaign to educate people on the importance of wearing seat belts,” said HSN Executive Director Bob Schaeffer. “Law enforcement plays a critical role in increasing seat belt use by combining public awareness activities with targeted seat belt enforcement. Seat belts save lives. The single, most important thing you can do to protect yourself in a vehicle is to buckle up every time.”
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