The Watertown Police Department in partnership with the Highway Safety Division of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the Massachusetts State Police, and more than 200 Massachusetts police departments will take part in the national Click It or Ticket campaign between May 9 and May 23.
This high-visibility enforcement campaign will promote seat belt use through increased traffic enforcement. The campaign is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
“As we begin the busy summer driving season, it is crucial that all motorists buckle up every time they go out, day and night,” said Sgt. David Sampson.
The national seat belt usage rate is 88.5 percent (NHTSA). Massachusetts is falling behind at 74 percent, with a 3 percent reduction in usage rate between 2014 and 2015. In Massachusetts, many fatally injured occupants are unbuckled.
According to NHTSA, in 2014, nearly half of the 21,022 passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes across the country were unrestrained.
“While these may just sound like statistics, local police know from personal experience that those numbers represent mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and friends in Watertown,” said Jeff Larason, Director of the Highway Safety Division. “If we increase our seat belt usage rate, we save lives, and that’s why the police are out enforcing this important law.”