“Click It or Ticket” - California Intensifies Seat Belt Campaign

Personal Injury News – State May 18, 2009

Los Angeles – State law enforcement agencies have stepped up the implementation of seatbelt law from May 18 to 31. Spearheaded by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and joined in by the California Highway Patrol and some 90 local police agencies, the campaign will receive some $3 million through the federal traffic safety grant as support funds.

OTS director Christopher Murphy said law enforcers will give no warnings - just tickets - to violators in the campaign dubbed as “Click It or Ticket.” The director said “Click It or Ticket” digital messages will be flashed on roadside traffic alert signs throughout the state during the campaign period.

The fines have also increased for the intensified campaign as the penalty for failing to strap is now $132 for adults, compared to $91 last year; while children under 16 who will be caught without any seatbelts will be fined $435.

The director noted that although California has a 97.5 percent safety belt compliance rate, meaning about 500,000 vehicle occupants fail to buckle up, the renewed implementation of the law could help raise awareness to the importance of seatbelt use in case of car accidents.

California has a primary seatbelt law, which requires that every passenger in the car, including the driver, wear a safety restraint at all times. Children 12 years and under are required to ride restrained in the back seat, and those under age 6 or 60 pounds must be in child safety seats.