'Click It Or Ticket' Nets 6,434 Occupant
Protection Charges in Third Week
Officers Conduct Recording-Breaking Number of Activities and Issue More
Citations
RALEIGH, N.C., June 6 Law enforcement officers ticketed
more than 6,400 drivers and passengers for failure to use seat belts and/or
child safety seats during the third week of the spring "Click It or Ticket"
campaign. They also conducted a record-breaking number of law enforcement
activities and wrote more child passenger safety citations than during any
previous "Click It or Ticket" campaign.
From May 28-June 3, officers statewide conducted 1,934 law enforcement
activities in support of North Carolina's seat belt and child passenger safety
campaign, which was launched with a statewide kickoff event on May 14 in
Raleigh.
The North Carolina numbers were reported by law enforcement agencies in
each county and compiled by the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. During
the third week of the campaign, officers wrote 5,817 seat belt tickets and 617
child passenger safety violations.
Besides cracking down on seat belt and child passenger safety violators,
officers across the state last week charged 904 motorists with DWI. They
discovered a total of 27,161 violations, including 258 drug charges, nine
stolen vehicles, and five fugitive from justice. For the third consecutive
week, Wake County reported the highest number of occupant protection
violations, with 711 seat belt and 44 child passenger safety tickets.
Mecklenburg County issued 340 seat belt and 14 child passenger safety tickets,
and Pasquotank County wrote 320 seat belt and 23 child passenger safety
citations.
In several categories, the spring "Click It or Ticket" campaign reported
the highest numbers since the initiative was launched in 1993. Last year's
spring campaign set a new record with 3,669 reportable law enforcement
activities; this year, officers statewide conducted 5,291 checkpoints and
stepped-up patrols. Officers also broke the fall 2000 record of 1,181 child
passenger safety citations by writing 1,841 this time.
"We are grateful that law enforcement officers across the state take this
campaign so seriously," said Don Nail, acting director of the Governor's
Highway Safety Program. "They have sent a strong message that highway safety
violations will not be overlooked. We hope this dedication will translate
into fewer lives lost in traffic crashes."
On May 21, seven additional southeastern states joined the mission to get
more motorists buckled up by adopting North Carolina's high visibility
enforcement and public education model. According to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee all have reported high participation
among law enforcement agencies, and an increase in occupant protection and
other traffic and criminal violations.
The goal of "Click It or Ticket" is to boost seat belt use in North
Carolina, thereby saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing the massive
health-care costs associated with traffic crashes. In addition to ticketing
unbuckled drivers, officers are paying particular attention to unrestrained
children. All children up to age 16 must be buckled up no matter where they
ride in the vehicle. Children under age 5 and weighing less than 40 pounds
must ride in a child passenger safety seat -- in the back seat, if the vehicle
has an active passenger-side airbag. Drivers who fail to adhere to this law
will face two points on his or her driver's license.
Statewide Totals
DWI Occupant Restraint Traffic Violations
Driving Child
While Passenger
Total Impaired Seat Belt Safety
Checkpoints Violations Violations Violations Speeding
and Patrols
1,449 911 7,454 586 7,655
(May 14-20)
1,908 899 6,784 638 7,738
(May 21-27)
1,934
(May 28-June 3) 904 5,817 617 7,333
5,291
(May 14-June 3) 2,714 20,055 1,841 22,726
Traffic Violations Criminal Violations
Total Misdemeanor Felony Stolen
Traffic Drug Drug Firearm Vehicles
Violations Violations Violations Violations Recovered
27,281 237 56 22 26
27,957 244 54 14 24
26,275 220 38 15 9
81,513 701 148 51 59
Criminal Violations
Other Total
Criminal Total Traffic &
Fugitives Violations Criminal Criminal
Arrested Not Listed Violations Violations
8 519 834 28,115
7 506 818 28,775
5 613 886 27,161
20 1,638 2,538 84,051
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