TRENTON Ventnor has been awarded a $2,800 grant to conduct the 2022 Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement campaign.
Acting NJ Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Highway Traffic Safety announced the start of the enforcement campaign targeting drivers and passengers who don't buckle up on Monday. Ventnor was one of 145 law enforcement agencies to receive grants totaling more than $890,000 to help pay for enforcement initiatives during the two-week campaign.
The launch of the enforcement campaign comes as New Jersey is experiencing alarming rises in fatal crashes and traffic deaths. Data tracked by the New Jersey State Police shows that 2021 was the deadliest on New Jersey roadways in more than a decade, and this year is shaping up to be even worse for fatal crashes and highway deaths.
Wearing a seat belt is the single most effective way to prevent death and serious injury in a car crash, Platkin said in a release. Educating the public on the importance of buckling up is critical to our ongoing efforts to reverse the alarming uptick in fatal crashes and prevent the senseless loss of lives on New Jersey roadways.
Fatal crashes in the Garden State climbed to 672 last year - 21% higher than the year before, and the number of lives lost in those crashes rose nearly 20% to 702. Taken together, the number of crashes and deaths are the highest recorded in New Jersey since 2007. Preliminary year-to-date data show that crashes and fatalities are up more than 15% from May 22, 2021, putting the state on track for another sharp increase by year's end.
The grants will help pay for increased road patrols, seat belt checkpoints, and other enforcement initiatives during the Click It or Ticket campaign. All police departments in New Jersey are invited to support the campaign, whether they receive grant funding or not.
The instant you buckle up, you cut your risk of a fatal injury in a crash nearly in half. Yet preliminary data shows that 38 percent of all motor vehicle occupants killed in crashes last year were not wearing their seatbelts the vast majority of them drivers. That has to change, said Eric Heitmann, director of the Division of Highway Traffic Safety. Our law enforcement officers see firsthand the consequences of not buckling up. Click It or Ticket is their chance to motivate people to buckle up before it's too late. If you aren't wearing your seatbelt during this enforcement campaign, expect to be pulled over and ticketed.
Across the campaign, participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt enforcement, writing citations throughout the day and with a particular focus on nighttime enforcement. In New Jersey, the maximum penalty for a seat belt violation is $46.
To learn more about the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot
