UCPD cracks down on buckling up
By Ari Bloomekatz
May 15, 2005 9:00 p.m.
University police will begin issuing $87 citations today for
drivers and passengers caught not buckling up during a period of
special police enforcement dubbed “Click it or
Ticket.”
“These next three weeks, we’re going to have
officers solely dedicated to actually looking for seat-belt
violators,” said Justin Mammen, who works in the UCPD
community services bureau.
Officers already look for people who are breaking
California’s seat-belt law, but Mammen said during the period
of special enforcement there will be extra patrols each day looking
for violators.
Drivers and passengers over 16 can receive a maximum fine of $87
for the first offense, and the price tag more than doubles for a
second offense.
Parents can be issued citations up to $340 if children under 16
are not buckled in, and the penalty increases to $871 for a second
offense.
This year UCPD’s “Click it or Ticket” is part
of a statewide effort to raise California’s seat-belt usage
rate from 90.4 percent to 92 percent.
University police officers are currently signing up to take on
extra-shifts during the enforcement period and will be compensated
through a state grant.
According to the state Office of Traffic Safety, 671
Californians unnecessarily died in 2003 because they were not
wearing seat belts, and buckling up is the easiest thing people can
do to improve their chances of living through a crash.
Mammen said college students might be traveling short distances
around campus and think they won’t need to wear a seat belt
during such a short ride.
But the reality is that most accidents happen close to home,
Mammen said, and it’s necessary to buckle up wherever you are
driving.
The UCPD’s special enforcement will last from May 16 to
June 5 and will affect both private and university vehicles.
