Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet
The Garden Grove Police Department is giving a push for their Click It or Ticket Campaign beginning Monday, May 18-31. This is just in time for the Memorial Day weekend coming up, one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
Beginning May 18-31, Garden Grove police officers will be on the lookout
for seat belt violators. (Photo: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Sgt. James Fischer of the Garden Grove Police Department said, “As we approach Memorial Day weekend and the summer vacation season, we want to make sure people are doing the one best thing that can save them in a crash– buckling up.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly half of the 21,132 passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2013 were not wearing seat belts. From 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., the number of those killed went up to 59%. Because of that increase, officers are focusing on night time enforcement, adopting a no-excuses approach. In California, that means a minimum $161 citation for a seat belt violation. Ouch.
Men are twice as likely to be killed in car crashes in California (based on 2013 statistics) than females, and also post lower belt use rates as well.
“The bottom line is that seat belts save lives,” said Fischer. “If these enforcement crackdowns get people’s attention and get them to buckle up, then we’ve done our job.”
