Montgomery and Hopewell police will join 128 New Jersey departments that will patrol heavily to ensure drivers and passengers are wearing their seatbelts.
The state awarded $1,200 in grant money to Montgomery police and $5,500 to Hopewell to help cover the costs to participate in the campaign.
Montgomery issued the following tickets during the 2018 Click It or Ticket campaign: 67 failure to wear seatbelts; 1 DWI; 7 speeding; 11 cell phone/texting while driving; 10 careless driving; 11 driving with a suspended license, and 168 "other" violations.
"The most effective means of reducing fatal or serious injury in a traffic crash remains the simplest task of all: wearing a seatbelt," according to the NJ Division of Highway Traffic Safety. "Seatbelt usage reduces a motor vehicle occupant’s risk of fatal injury by 45 percent, and moderate or critical injury by 50 percent."
According to National Highway Safety Authority, more than 15,000 lives are saved annually because an occupant was wearing their seat belt at the time of a crash. For the year 2015 alone, it is estimated that 207 motor vehicle occupants were saved in New Jersey because they were belted.
The agencies issued a total 19,659 seat belt citations, up from 17,792 issued during the 2017 mobilization.
In addition to seat belt citations, police officers wrote 534 child restraint and 4,437 speeding citations, and made 661 DWI arrests, state officials said.
Now in its 15th year, New Jersey's Click It or Ticket campaign uses high visibility seat belt checkpoints and saturation patrols, in combination with local and national publicity efforts, to reinforce the message that motorist should buckle up during every trip.
Crash statistics show that from 2013 through 2017, seat belt use saved more than 69,000 lives nationally, more than 1,000 of them In New Jersey, according to state officials.
Experts say wearing a seat belt reduces a vehicle occupant's risk of fatal injury by 45 percent and critical injury by 50 percent.
These neighboring towns will be participating in the campaign: Branchburg, Bridgewater, Franklin, Hopewell, Manville, Montgomery, Plainsboro, Raritan, Somerville, and South Brunswick.
Video: Seat Belts: No Good Excuse
