Crime & Safety
Sheriff's and CHP Enforcing Seatbelt Laws
The "Click It or Ticket" campaign means maximum enforcement of mandatory seatbelt laws.
California Highway Patrol officers and Riverside County sheriff's deputies in the Coachella Valley will participate in a national effort to enforce seat belt laws starting today.
The "Click It or Ticket'' campaign started today and runs through
June 3. Extra officers will be on patrol, "looking for those who choose to not
wear their seatbelts or not wear them correctly,'' said Officer Joe Zagorski of
the CHP.
So far this year, six out of 11 fatal collisions in the Coachella Valley have involved people not wearing seat belts, Zagorski said. Last year, seven out of 20 fatal collisions in the area involved seat belt avoidance, he said.
According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration,
California had a 95.3 percent seat belt usage rate in 2009, the third-highest
in the country.
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"Even with the increasing percentage of seat belt usage rate by
Californians, it is still not 100 percent, and as a result, the CHP still sees
fatalities in collisions as a result of occupants not wearing their seat
belts,'' Zagorski said.
