Cops to Crack Down on Seat Belt Violators in Annual 'Click It' Campaign

Don’t want to wear your seatbelt? Be prepared to pay the price.

Washington Township police have been granted $4,000 to take part in the annual Click It or Ticket campaign, set for May 19 through June 1.

The grant will enable the department to employ 80 extra man hours to road patrols, Lt. Doug Compton said.

In 2013, the Click It or Ticket campaign saw 422 police departments in New Jersey issue 26,049 seat belt citations to go along with 860 drunken driving arrests during the two-week initiative.

Last year, Washington Township police issued 236 tickets during the crackdown, 130 of which were for seatbelt violations. The remaining citations included:

• 3 speeding violations
• 5 Driving While Suspended
• 2 Reckless Driving
• 2 Driving While Intoxicated
• 1 Uninsured Driver
• 93 other non-moving violations

Another five arrests were made in that time frame, including:

• 2 Controlled Dangerous Substance arrests
• 2 Driving While Intoxicated arrests
• 2 Warrant arrests

According to Gary Poedubicky, Acting Director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, an estimated 12,546 lives nationwide were saved by seat belts in 2010.

Local police recently took part in a three-week April crackdown on distracted driving, which resulted in 485 tickets being issued.