PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. - Picatinny Arsenal hosted the kickoff for the state's annual Click it or Ticket seatbelt mobilization outside the Visitor Control center on May 24.
During a media press conference, state officials stressed that a new law passed in January requires all passengers 18 years of age or older to buckle up regardless of where they are seated in a vehicle. This year's seatbelt campaign is placing added emphasis on back-seat passengers.
"The message we are trying to get across here is, why wouldn't you buckle up'" said Pamela Fischer, director, New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety.
A passenger's failure to securely fasten a seatbelt could result in a $46 fine, a penalty that would have normally been levied on the vehicle's driver.
Because of the large number of personnel that commute to and from Picatinny via vanpools, Picatinny was chosen as the state's launch site for the program.
According to Kathleen Drury, the installation's transportation officer, there are currently 59 van pools passing through our gates on any given work day.
More than 41,000 seat-belt citations were issued in New Jersey during the 2009 Click it or Ticket campaign.
This year's campaign runs through June 6.
Capt. Robert Frutchey of Picatinny Arsenal police department emphasized the importance of seat belt use in all seating positions in private passenger and commuter vans and car pools, noting that a passenger's chance of surviving a car crash increases by up to 75 percent when a safety belt is worn.
"If you commute in a carpool or vanpool, remember it's not just your safety that's at stake," Fischer said.
Raymond P. Martinez, acting chief administrator, New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, said that people often are injured when they are not buckled in.
"Unbuckled, back-seat passengers become bullets in the event of a crash and they continue to travel at the same rate of speed as the vehicle they're riding in until they hit something," Martinez said.
According to state statistics, only 32 percent of adults are currently buckling up in the back seat. Officials hope that this campaign will raise that percentage to a much higher rate.
New Jersey's rate of front seatbelt usage in 2009 increased for the 13th consecutive year to a record 92.67 percent.
Picatinny police officers will be enforcing the seat belt regulation in accordance with state regulations and will continue to do so after the campaign ends. For your safety and for the safety of others please remember: click it or ticket.
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