FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 16, 2018
Contact: Saul Rodriguez, Lieutenant
Phone: 310.458.2293
email: saul.rodriguez@smgov.net
Memorial Day weekend is an
unofficial start to the summer season and a busy time for Californians. Each
year, the highways fill with families in vehicles, on their way to start their
summer vacations. To help keep drivers and passengers safe, the Santa Monica
Police Department (SMPD) is reminding motorists to Click It or Ticket.
SMPD will deploy additional
officers May 21- June 3, 2018 on special traffic patrols to stop and ticket
both drivers and passengers for failing to use the vehicle’s safety belt
restraints. This will also include
drivers who fail to secure children in the proper child restraint seats.
“If you know a friend or a family
member who does not buckle up when they drive, please ask them to consider
changing their habits,” said Chief Cynthia Renaud. “Help us spread this
life-saving message before one more friend or family member is killed as a
result of this inaction. Seat belts save lives, and everyone needs to remember
to buckle up—every trip, every time.”
According to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, nearly half (48%) of the passenger vehicle
occupants killed in crashes in 2016 were unrestrained. At night from 6 p.m. to
5:59 a.m., that number soared to 56 percent of those killed resulting in a focus
of the Click It or Ticket campaign to nighttime enforcement. Police, Sheriff
and the CHP will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement,
writing citations day and night. In California, the minimum penalty for a seat
belt violation is $162.
“This Memorial Day period and, in
fact, every day, we want everyone in every vehicle to remember that buckling up
could be their greatest defense in a crash,” said Rhonda Craft, Director of the
California Office of Traffic Safety. “Putting on a seat belt is one of the
quickest, simplest and most effective ways to ensure you and your loved ones
remain safe and sound on the road.”
This enforcement effort is funded
by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and remember - Report Drunk Drivers -
call 911.