Swatara Police will be partnering to participate in a national “Click It or Ticket” (CIOT) Seat Belt Enforcement initiative now through November 26, 2023. The goal is to reduce unbelted injuries and deaths on Pennsylvania highways through coordinated enforcement using Traffic Enforcement Zones and Roving Patrols. Traffic Enforcement Zones combine stationary enforcement and checkpoint tactics on roadways with high numbers of unbuckled crashes. Citations will be issued to motorists who are caught unbuckled or transporting unrestrained children.
According to PennDOT data, there were 11,955 crashes in Pennsylvania in 2022 where at least one occupant was not wearing a seat belt, resulting in 354 fatalities. In Pennsylvania, drivers and passengers 18 years and older are required to wear a seat belt when behind the wheel or in the front passenger seat. If you are a driver 18 or older and police pull you over for another violation, you’ll receive a second ticket if you or your front-seat passengers aren’t wearing seat belts.
Pennsylvania’s Primary Seat Belt Law requires drivers and passengers under 18 years of age to buckle up anywhere in the vehicle. Additionally, drivers under 18 may not operate a vehicle where the number of passengers exceed the number of available seat belts.
Under Pennsylvania’s Primary Child Passenger Safety Law, children under the age of 4 must be properly restrained in an approved child safety seat anywhere in the vehicle. Additionally, children under the age of 2 must be secured in a rear-facing car seat until they meet the maximum weight or height requirements set by the manufacturer of the seat. Children must ride in an appropriate booster seat until their eighth birthday.
As part of the CIOT effort, which includes 400 Pennsylvania municipal agencies, PennDOT distributes federal enforcement funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
For more information on seat belt safety, visit www.PennDOT.pa.gov/Safety.
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