Click it or ticket

In the city of Presque Isle from May 21st until June 3rd, the Presque Isle Police Department will again be participating in the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) “Click it or Ticket” program.                 This program consists of extra patrols focused on high volumes of traffic stops, looking specifically for seatbelt infractions.
The Presque Isle Police Department feels that wearing one’s seatbelt is extremely important because of some of these national statistics:
Nearly one in five Americans (18 percent) still fail to regularly wear their safety belts when driving or riding in a motor vehicle, according to NHTSA.
Among those least likely to buckle up: young males, pickup truck drivers and their passengers, people who live in rural areas, and nighttime drivers.
31,693 passenger vehicle occupants died in traffic crashes during 2004, according to NHTSA, and 55 percent of those killed were NOT wearing their safety belts at the time of the crash.
Safety belt use is the single most effective way to protect people and reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes.
When worn correctly, safety belts have proven to reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent — and by 60 percent in pickup trucks, SUVs, and mini-vans.
Safety belts clearly save lives. But unfortunately too many folks still need a tough reminder, so we are going to be out in force “buckling down on those who are not buckled up.”     That’s why the Presque Isle Police Department is joining with more than 12,000 other State and local law enforcement and highway safety officials during late May for an aggressive national “Click It or Ticket” mobilization to crack down on Maine’s safety belt law violators and to reduce highway fatalities.
Unless you want to risk a ticket, or worse – your life, you need to remember to “Click it or Ticket” day and night.
Maine is a secondary offense state, which means that drivers over the age of eighteen (18) must be stopped for a traffic infraction other than a safety belt violation before they can be charged with the offense. Drivers over 18 may be charged with both the originating offense and the seat belt offense. However, drivers under the age of eighteen may be stopped solely for not wearing their safety belts.
Too many people still take the attitude that it will never happen to them. But fatal crashes can and do happen every day. So we will be out in force showing zero tolerance for anyone not buckled up. We’d much rather write a thousand tickets than have to knock on one family’s door with the news that their loved one didn’t survive a crash because they weren’t wearing their safety belt.
Please drive responsibly and wear your safety belts. Reminder: Studded snow tires must be off vehicles by May 1st.